ALERT: Grim warning to people who use their phone in the toilet amid virus fears

A microbiologist has lifted the lid on the dirtiest places and practices in Irish households and it's bad news for bathroom phone scrollers. 

Anna Burns was speaking to The Hard Shoulder programme on Newstalk radio on Tuesday evening when she said "it wouldn't take a genius to work out" that the bathroom is the dirtiest room in the house but said "it's never simple with microbes, they inhabit every surface."

That is where bathroom scrolling comes in along with the age-old question of toilet seat up or down when flushing? Keeping it down may not rule out all the nasty bacteria reaching your phone and therefore your hands throughout the day.

"There are two issues with the toilet seat and whether or not you have it up or down when you're flushing," she said, "the first are bacteria and we know there are bacteria everywhere around the toilet."

"We can think of E.Coli and getting food poisoning and we can think of campylobacter and they are going to come out when you flush," she explained.

However, she said "the study that puts a question mark over the seat being up or down is one about the winter vomiting bug, and it was the norovirus they were investigating," adding, "the thing about viruses is they are teeny tiny and a toilet seat won't actually interfere with their spread."

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She referenced the cruise ship last year where more than 500 passengers were struck down with norovirus symptoms. Anne explained, "the suspicion there is it was in the toilets from people flushing because in an industrial setting, the flush can be very powerful."

She said it is less powerful in homes but particles from the toilet can still travel 25cm above the toilet seat when flushed. She said, "if you're a little bit sloppy with your flushing habits, it's [toilet seat] is always open, and your toothbrush happens to be in the window sill, or more likely, you've got your phone in your hand."

"Who doesn't pop into the loo during the working day to take a break on Instagram with their phone in hand. That's probably what this is relating to, whether you have the seat up or down. Personally I would have it down because you're lessening the impact of what's becoming aerosol."

She explained that most bugs from faeces that become airborne after flush can be dealt with by people but she said in winter vomiting bug season, we have to be "that little bit more cautious" of our flushing and indeed scrolling habits.

She said as a result hand hygiene if so important and that regular liquid soap of the old-fashioned bar of soap will do the job for most things because "it emulsifies and breaks down the bacteria." She said when it comes to viruses, hand sanitiser is most effective but the most important thing to do is disinfect your toilet regularly.