The Coffee Mug On Your Desk – Germ Central

Do you have an "office or work coffee mug"? You know, one you use time and time again because your place of work doesn't offer cups for you to drink from or you are doing it to better the environment. Think twice before using it again!

A "germ expect", yes - they exists, claims that coffee mug is nothing but a center for germs and more.

Professor Charles P. Gerba of the University of Arizona's Department of Soil, Water and Environmental Science says if you are drinking from a cup or mug - don't nurse your desired drink for more than an hour.

On top of that, take your mug/cup home every night and wash in the dishwasher with the dry cycle on as that will kill every last germ on the item.

Why is that? Gerba told Men's Health magazine "Colonies of germs are living in your favorite cup. Twenty percent of office mugs carry fecal bacteria, and 90 percent are covered in other germs. hat's because in an office, most people tend to clean their cups with bacteria-laden sponges or scrub brushes instead of in a dishwasher. That bacteria transfers to the mug and can live there for three days."

If you leave it on your desk, germs will start reproducing immediately and the bacteria will grow even if there is nothing in the cup but a coffee ring.

Gerba did research on the germ filled spots in an office and came up with phone as number one, followed by the desktop, keyboard, mouse, fax machine and photocopier. The least germ filled place? The toilet. Yep, the one place you might think otherwise about, especially if you worked here, is the least germy spot at work.

(UPI)