Every time you sit down on the toilet, you make sure to put down the paper protector, right? But when was the last time you ran a Lysol disinfectant wipe over your cell phone? How about your keyboard? Or steering wheel? Microbiologists have found that toilet seat contamination is miniscule compared to these surfaces that are rarely sanitized.

“When someone is infected with a cold or flu bug, the surfaces they touch during the day become germ transfer points because some cold and flu viruses can survive on surfaces for up to 72 hours,” says microbiologist Charles Gerba of the University of Arizona.

British microbiologist professor Sally Bloomfield asserts that “the superhighways for bacteria are hands and the surfaces we touch.”

In a university setting, these transfer points are innumerable. Although we cannot possibly make our environments void of germs, we can make a conscious effort to keep our hands washed, use hand sanitizer and alcoholic wipes on the surfaces we regularly touch. Protect yourselves and others this fall, and next time you are at Wal-Mart, pick up some wipes for your car and dorm.

Five things more unsanitary than a toilet seat

Toilet seats: Contain merely 49 microbes per square inch

Telephones harbor up to 25,127 microbes per square inch.
Keyboards are a haven for 3,295 microbes per square inch.
Steering wheels – 45% of people report they rarely clean their car.
Door handles are touched by the 70% of the population who don’t wash their hands.
Shopping carts contain more saliva, bacteria and even fecal matter than public restrooms.