1 in 6 Cellphones Contain Traces of Poop

Ever borrow your friends cellphone to make a quick call? You might want to stop doing that after recent research from London scientists.

What is that smell?

Why you ask? Well poop. That’s right, poop — on your phone. Researchers analyzed 780 swab samples, half of which came from cellphones and the other half from the hands that held them — in 12 U.K. cities. They found that:

16% of both hands and phones were contaminated with E. coli, potentially illness-causing bacteria that is fecal in origin. The likely reason: because people don’t wash their hands after using the toilet.

Overall, the researchers found that 92% of hands and 82% of phones showed some type of bacterial contamination. About a third of hands and a quarter of phones contained Staphylococcus aureus, common bacteria that live on skin but can cause illness if they enter the bloodstream.

Don’t trust your friend either when he/she swears that they wash their hands. 92% of the 390 people who were tested said they washed their hands with soap.

via TIME