Car interiors dirtier than toilet bowls
Your car interior is probably dirtier than your toilet, according to a study by Aston University in Birmingham, England. The trunk and the driver's seat are the elements most infected with bacteria and feces.
This study, published by the price comparison tool Scrap Car Comparison, shows that all the cars studied contained fecal bacteria, with the highest levels found in the trunk of the car (1425 bacteria identified) and in the driver's seat (649 ). The gear lever, dashboard and rear seat also showed high levels of bacterial contamination, higher than those found on a household toilet. In the end, it’s the steering wheel (146 bacteria) that turns out to be the least contaminated area of the car. This can partly be explained by the recent massive use of hydroalcoholic gel in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Note that there is a correlation between age inside a car and the levels of bacteria likely to be found in it, with older vehicles having the highest germ counts.
The main cause of the presence of these bacteria comes from food. You must absolutely avoid eating on board or even storing fresh food in your trunk in order to maintain a healthy environment. It is also advisable to clean your car from top to bottom regularly so as not to store all these bacteria over time.
To carry out this study, researchers from the School of Biosciences at Aston University have took samples inside different cars (a Peugeot 307-SW, a VW Golf, a Ford Focus, a Honda Jazz and a Peugeot 308) to establish their levels of bacterial contamination.
Discover the conclusions of this study in video
