It’s something we’re all taught when we’re potty trained as children.
But a disgusting new survey has revealed just how many people don’t wash their hands after using the toilet.
Researchers from Australia’s Food Safety Information Council found that almost a fifth of people don’t always wash their hands after going to the toilet.
What’s more, almost half of the people surveyed admitted they don’t always wash their hands before handling food.
Worryingly, experts warn that this can lead to the spread of bacteria – some of which can prove deadly.
Writing for The Conversation, Dr Christine Carson, a senior research fellow at the University of Western Australia, said: ‘You may not get sick yourself, but you’re increasing the spread of bacteria.
‘This can increase the risk of infection and illness for other people, including those with compromised immune systems such as older people and those undergoing common forms of treatment for cancer.’
It’s something we’re all taught when we’re potty trained as children. But a disgusting new survey has revealed just how many people don’t wash their hands after using the toilet (stock image)
The survey included 1,229 people aged 18 years and over, who were quizzed on their hand washing practices.
Overall, 19 per cent of respondents said they don’t always wash their hands after going to the toilet.
Lydia Buchtmann, Food Safety Information Council CEO, said: ‘This year’s Omnipoll consumer research also found that 19% of Australians say they don’t always wash their hands after going to the toilet (up from 17% last year) and 42% admit they don’t always wash before touching food (up from 34% last year).
‘There was a slight improvement in handwashing during COVID-19 but now Australians seem to be slipping back into old habits.’
The results revealed differences in handwashing practices across both gender and age.
Men were less likely than women to always wash their hands after going to the toilet (80 per cent of men versus 83 per cent of women), or before touching food (55 per cent of men versus 62 per cent of women).
Meanwhile, youngsters were found to be significantly worse at washing their hands than older generations.
Just sixty-nine per cent of under-34s said they always wash their hands after going to the toilet, compared to 86 per cent of over-65s.
When you use the toilet and touch surfaces in the bathroom, you will pick up germs. People who skip the hand washing step on the way out take those germs with them when they leave, depositing them on each surface they touch afterwards (stock image)
‘Urine and faeces contain millions of germs, especially faeces, which has more than 100 billion germs per gram,’ Dr Carson said.
‘When you use the toilet and touch surfaces in the bathroom, you will pick up germs.
‘People who skip the hand washing step on the way out take those germs with them when they leave, depositing them on each surface they touch afterwards.’
While the Food Safety Information Council’s survey didn’t look at people’s reasons for not washing their hands, Dr Carson says these likely vary across people’s lifetimes and circumstances.
‘One study that looked at this question in India asked school children about barriers to hand washing,’ she explained.
‘The vast majority (91%) had low “illness threat perception”.
‘In other words, they simply didn’t perceive a risk of getting sick form not washing their hands after going to the toilet.
‘Interestingly, the inability to see germs with their own eyes was one of the biggest barriers, cited by 46% of the children.
‘But 72% said they would wash their hands if their friends did.
‘It’s tempting to speculate these reasons may also apply to other age groups, but we simply haven’t done enough research to know.’
Based on the findings, the Food Safety Information Council is urging people to improve their handwashing practices.
‘The Food Safety Information Council’s advice is to always wash and dry your hands before handling, preparing and eating food, after touching raw meat, fish, seafood, shell eggs or poultry, after using the toilet, attending to children’s (or others’) toileting and changing nappies, after blowing your nose, after touching a pet or cleaning cat litter trays, and after gardening,’ Ms Buchtmann added.
To wash your hands correctly, the Food Safety Information Council says you should:
1. Wet your hands and rub them together well to build up a good lather with soap for at least 20 seconds and don’t forget to wash between your fingers and under your nails. You might have to use a nail brush.
2. Rinse well under running water to remove the bugs from your hands.
3. Dry your hands thoroughly on a clean towel for at least 20 seconds. Touching surfaces with moist hands encourages bugs to spread from the surface to your hands.
4. If no running water is available use an alcohol gel hand rub.
