Toothbrushes kept in a communal bathroom are likely to have fecal matter on them, according new study presented at the annual meeting of the American Society for Microbiology in New Orleans.
Researchers studied students at Quinnipiac University sharing bathrooms averaging 9.4 users, essentially a dorm situation.
The results were pretty disturbing.
No matter how the toothbrushes were stored, at least 60% tested positive for traces of poop. In 80% of those cases, it was fecal matter from someone other than the user.
"The main concern is not with the presence of your own fecal matter on your toothbrush, but rather when a toothbrush is contaminated with fecal matter from someone else, which contains bacteria, viruses or parasites that are not part of your normal flora," said Lauren Aber, MHS, a graduate student at Quinnipiac University.
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