When people complain about finding filth on computers, it’s usually got something to do with Internet porn. But University of Washington students have found that users don’t even have to hit a Web site to contact another kind of dirt. All they have to do is touch the keyboard. It might have high levels of fecal coliform bacteria.
Keyboards in the undergraduate library and in computer labs at Mary Gates Hall, the undergraduate learning center, harbored the bugs, the Seattle Times reported this weekend. Students swabbed them down and tested for the bacteria as part of an environmental-research project.
Now, before you jump to the grossest possible conclusion, fecal coliform does not always come from feces, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. One genus hangs around paper and textile mills. Still, the presence of fecal coliform can be a sign of contaminated water. And yes, it can also be a sign of undesirable bathroom habits.
The bacteria by themselves do not pose health risks. (It’s other micro-organisms traveling with them that can cause diarrhea and other illnesses.) Still, the university said that public keyboards in the library would be scrubbed down once a week from now on. —Josh Fischman
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