Another point to consider is that eating at your desk could be a major source of illness: your phone, tablet, mouse, keyboard, etc., are all great sources for all sorts of germs.
And why would those only be a concern if you are eating at your desk, not whe you are working on it and (gasp!) touching you phone, tablet, mouse, keyboard, etc?
Whenever I read an unqualified claim "there are more bacteria on your keyboard than on a toilet seat", I think "hm, most people must be spending way more time than necessary cleaning their toilets". But of course, the scientist in me also thinks the kinds of bacteria present will make an impact. The bacteria on a toilet seat might be similar to the zillions of bacteria in my stomach, or they might be E. Coli, salmonella, tetanus, syphilis, etc.
That's because, most of the time, a keyboard/mouse will NEVER be cleaned (and desks themselves something like twice a year) while toilet seats will be cleaned quite often, even more than once per day in a big enough office.
I clean my keyboard and mouse regularly, as well as try to keep my hands clean while I'm working (if I eat a chocolate, I'll wash my hands afterwards, for example), but I know I'm the exception.
Great question. To be honest, when I was doing my research I was able to come across multiple quotations of a study talking about these numbers. However, attempts to actually find a copy of the study in question led me to two different dead links. It's why I didn't bring it up in my blog post. I simply couldn't find a copy of the source; as compelling as a statement regarding toilet seats may be.
I hate that it's so hard to find a copy of an academic study.
Should you a find a copy of the study that explored and expounded upon this, I would love to see a link.
Whenever I read an unqualified claim "there are more bacteria on your keyboard than on a toilet seat", I think "hm, most people must be spending way more time than necessary cleaning their toilets". But of course, the scientist in me also thinks the kinds of bacteria present will make an impact. The bacteria on a toilet seat might be similar to the zillions of bacteria in my stomach, or they might be E. Coli, salmonella, tetanus, syphilis, etc.