Study: ATMs, toilets have same bacteria

LONDON, Jan. 12 (UPI) -- A British company said tests carried out on ATMs and public toilets found they contain many of the same illness-causing bacteria.

BioCote, a company specializing in antimicrobial protection, said swabs taken from a string of automated teller machines and the seats of nearby public toilets found both locations contained illness and diarrhea-causing bacteria, including enteric coliforms, pseudomonads and Bacillus.

"We were surprised by our results because the ATM machines were shown to be heavily contaminated with bacteria; to the same level as nearby public toilets," BioCote microbiologist Richard Hastings said. "In addition the bacteria we detected on ATMs were similar to those from the toilet, which are well known as causes of common human illnesses."

The company said it carried out the tests after its survey of 3,000 adults indicated Britons see public toilets as the locations with the largest health risk, with ATMs coming in 10th.

"It's ironic that while people perceive chip and pin pads to be the least dirtiest, our swabbing experiments have actually shown them to be dirtier than public toilets," Hastings said.