It carries your cellphone, your wallet, your car keys, even your tissues and breath mints, but did you know that your purse may also be carrying—GERMS! Germs, bacteria, filth, you name it and it’s likely living, nay, thriving, on the outside of your handbag (for some ladies it may even be breeding inside your carry-all).
A new study done by several leading U.S. microbiologists discovered that your handbag could actually get you sick. At first, I was taken aback by the results, but once I thought about where many of us place our purses when we aren’t carrying them (everywhere from the floors of restaurants and bathrooms to our kitchen counters) I realized how easily they could become contaminated with bacteria.
Microbiologists in Wisconsin concluded that the majority of people who own purses don’t realize that the bottom of a bag can be a magnet for germs. Doctors say handbags can be a breeding ground for bacteria that can infect your entire family.
The purse study consisted of random samplings of hundreds of handbags found sitting on the floors of malls, movie theatres and restaurants. Researchers swabbed the bottoms of the purses and took them to a lab for testing.
The results: every single bag showed some level of bacteria. More than two-dozen had bacteria counts in the tens of thousands. Doctors say the majority of the bacteria found on the purses can cause bacterial infections, with symptoms that include fever, vomiting, diarrhea.
So what can we purse-toting people do to protect ourselves. Doctors recommend carefully monitoring where we place our bags. They say to resist unconsciously placing handbags on high traffic floors such as the food courts at the mall and especially in public restrooms. Then, be careful where you place your purse when you return home. Doctors say you don’t want to put it anywhere where you’re going to be preparing foods or eating foods… or anywhere children are going to come in contact with it.
But the most important tip researchers provide is this: cleaning the outside of your bag on a daily basis. Doctors recommend using a bleach wipe (I like Clorox Wipes), which can kill 99% of the bacteria that may accumulate on the outside of a handbag.