I have no fear of public toilets. Usually because when I am using them I’ve had a few drinks or I have to go so bad I can’t be bothered to drape the seat in shitty old one-ply. You would assume that the women’s washroom in the lobby of the up scale Whyte Hotel in downtown Chicago is going to be cleaner and much more fecal-matter-free than the unisex gas station toilet at the Love’s on the 101, but apparently, microbiologist and Canadian resident “Germ Guy” Jason Tetro says differently. All toilets are pretty much the same when it comes to germs.
Germ Guy admits that public toilets are “crawling with human bacteria”, but so is any inanimate object in the general public that gets touched by 600 hands a day. We don’t flip out about the pole on the SkyTrain the way we do about our skin on a public toilet seat. Suddenly everyone in the world turns into a next level germaphobe when it comes to their ass.
Germ Guy also says that covering the seat in toilet paper is not going to do anything. Most people just cover the actual seat, when it reality, there is a small risk of getting a yeast infection in the genital area from that little opening of the porcelain that is not covered. (However, this risk is very low.)
“Microorganisms are all over the bathroom,”according to YouTube science channel AsapSCIENCE. “Simply flushing a toilet creates aerosolized bacteria, meaning that the toilet paper is most likely contaminated.”
So, instead of vandalizing the seat with an entire roll, Germ Guy suggests just folding up a few squares for the porcelain region to protect against yeast. Furthermore, continues AsapSCIENCE, “there are 200 times more fecal matter on average cutting board in your home than on a public toilet seat.”
Your skin is stronger than you think, so even if there is a town of E. coli setting up camp on a public toilet, you’re not going to be affected by it unless you have some massive open wound.
Yesterday I spent an hour on the phone with Bay Area sex worker, porn star and newly graduated public health professional Maxine Holloway. Somehow we got on the subject of hepatitis C. Holloway told me that when you go to the doctor and ask to be tested for all STIs that does not include syphilis or hepatitis C (even when the doctor is drawing blood.) Holloway went on to talk about how hepatitis C is an overlooked blood disease. Even though it is only transferred from blood to blood, hepatitis C can live in the air for 14 seconds, which means that you could potentially contract it from even something like a shared razor. Holloway was concerned about hepatitis C knowledge in the world of kink and bondage. This makes sense in a sexual practice that tends to split your skin open a lot of the times. She wasn’t trying to make anyone hysterical, just aware of a potentially fatal disease that is often forgotten about during routine health check-ups.
So germs are the least of your worries. Only a microbiologist can really see what’s going on, so stop thinking your home-brewed attempts at germ protection are going to work. The toilet at the Whyte Hotel and the Love’s are filled with the same amount of bacteria, after all.
But what about our sexual partners? Think about when you fuck someone; would you assume that crust punk kid with the unwashed jean vest is going to be more of a health risk to your genitals than the clean cut, handsome normal in the suit? Well, you’re probably wrong. In fact, I’m willing to place money on the suit being the main source of HPV for at least 40 per cent of his social group.
If you are so concerned about protecting yourself from something as benign as a public toilet, doesn’t it make sense to protect yourself from the potential petri dish of disease that are other peoples’ genitals?
Condoms, people. Use them, because until you know, you don’t know.
