Profiling of the microbes on the surface of smartphone touchscreens

Nanase Takahashi; Anna Wakui; Yume Sekizawa; Miho Kawachi; Mirai Sekiguchi; Takashi Abe; Aya Sato; Misato Miyazawa; Manami Imai; Nagara Kaku; Shingo Maruyama; Hiroto Sano; Nahoko Kakihara; Jumpei Washio; Yuki Abiko; Kaori Tanaka; Nobuhiro Takahashi; Takuichi Sato

doi:10.1016/j.job.2024.100607

Profiling of the microbes on the surface of smartphone touchscreens

J Oral Biosci. 2024 Dec 30:100607. doi: 10.1016/j.job.2024.100607. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Nanase Takahashi¹, Anna Wakui², Yume Sekizawa³, Miho Kawachi¹, Mirai Sekiguchi¹, Takashi Abe¹, Aya Sato¹, Misato Miyazawa¹, Manami Imai¹, Nagara Kaku¹, Shingo Maruyama¹, Hiroto Sano⁴, Nahoko Kakihara⁵, Jumpei Washio⁶, Yuki Abiko⁶, Kaori Tanaka⁷, Nobuhiro Takahashi⁶, Takuichi Sato⁸

Affiliations

¹ Division of Clinical Chemistry, Niigata University Graduate School of Health Sciences, Niigata 951-8518, Japan.
² Division of Clinical Chemistry, Niigata University Graduate School of Health Sciences, Niigata 951-8518, Japan; Department of Medical Technology, Niigata University of Health and Welfare, Niigata 950-3198, Japan.
³ Division of Clinical Chemistry, Niigata University Graduate School of Health Sciences, Niigata 951-8518, Japan; Department of Nursing, Niigata University Graduate School of Health Sciences, Niigata 951-8518, Japan.
⁴ Division of Clinical Chemistry, Niigata University Graduate School of Health Sciences, Niigata 951-8518, Japan; Department of Pathology, The Nippon Dental University School of Life Dentistry at Niigata, Niigata 951-8580, Japan.
⁵ Department of Nursing, Niigata University Graduate School of Health Sciences, Niigata 951-8518, Japan.
⁶ Division of Oral Ecology and Biochemistry, Tohoku University Graduate School of Dentistry, Sendai 980-8575, Japan.
⁷ Division of Anaerobic Research, Life Science Research Center, Gifu University, Gifu 501-1194, Japan.
⁸ Division of Clinical Chemistry, Niigata University Graduate School of Health Sciences, Niigata 951-8518, Japan. Electronic address: [email protected].

PMID: 39743204
DOI: 10.1016/j.job.2024.100607

Abstract

The commensal microbiota of the finger-skin before and after ethanol disinfection were characterized and compared with the microbes isolated from the surface of smartphone touchscreens. The number of bacteria on the smartphone touchscreens was low, similar to that on the fingers after ethanol disinfection, suggesting that the surface of the touchscreens may not be suitable for the growth of microorganisms, rather than the surface of the fingers. Furthermore, ethanol disinfection reduced the number of bacteria on the finger-skin to 1/13 of the original count before disinfection.

Keywords: Hand disinfection; Microbiota; Skin; Smartphone.