Here’s Why You Definitely Want to Wash Your Water Bottle More
Reduce, reuse, recycle. That’s the environmentally conscious mantra we’ve all come to know.
But watch out! While you’re saving the earth, you’re probably also dosing up on some pretty grimy germs.
Research by Treadmill Reviews found that the water bottle you’ve been lugging around in your handbag for weeks is covered in bacteria and that drinking from it could be as unhygienic as licking a dog toy. In a small study, researchers tracked and swabbed 12 water bottles that had been used by athletes over the course of a week. The average amount of bacteria was found to be 313,499 CFU (colony-forming units) per square centimeter.
The germiest bottle had 900,000 CFU, making it more germ-ridden than a toilet. The average pet toy only has 2,937.
The gross state of water bottles is caused by not washing them, sweat, and the accumulation of ordinary daily germs. To make matters worse, 60 percent of the germs found in the swabs were able to make people sick.
Some water bottles were found to be worse than others, with slide-top bottles having the most germs, straw-tops the fewest, and screw-tops somewhere in between. Stainless-steel bottles were found to be more hygienic than plastic bottles.
The best way to avoid bacteria? Stick with a stainless-steel, straw-top bottle without a lot of crevices or tough areas to clean.
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