Airport Security Trays Carry More Cold Germs Than Toilets
Airport security is there to protect you, but then again maybe not. The places we have been warned are filled with germs or bacteria — your pets, airplane cabins, the…
NEW YORK, NY – SEPTEMBER 26: A Transportation Security Administration (TSA) worker screens luggage at LaGuardia Airport (LGA) on September 26, 2017 in New York City. Passengers traveling on Delta at Terminal C will now go through new automated security screening lanes that hat officials claim will improve security while reducing wait times by 30 percent. The new automated security lanes, which have recently launched at some terminals at neighboring John F. Kennedy Airport, feature four partitioned areas for passengers to load their belongings, as well as a second rotating belt for bins. These bins, which are 25 percent larger, are automatically sent back to the front of the line after each use, freeing up TSA officers to focus on the screening travelers. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty ImagesAirport security is there to protect you, but then again maybe not.
The places we have been warned are filled with germs or bacteria — your pets, airplane cabins, the A.T.M. Now, add the airport security tray. The trays used at airport checkpoints around the globe and touched by millions of passengers as they drop shoes, laptops, luggage and other items into them to clear X-ray scanners have been found to harbor a variety of germs, including the ones responsible for colds.
Scientists from the University of Nottingham in England and the Finnish National Institute for Health and Welfare swabbed frequently touched surfaces at Helsinki Airport in Finland during and after peak hours in the winter of 2016 and picked up traces of rhinovirus, the source of the common cold, and of the flu virus.
