Ew. That’s all we can say… ew.
Listen, we know some people absolutely hate wearing shoes around the house and will take them off the minute the step inside the front door.
But there are others who just don’t care, and will wear their shoes up to the kitchen, the bedroom and everywhere else in between, too.
However, the people in the latter might change their tune when they read these latest findings.
Dr Charles Gerba, a microbiologist and professor at the University of Arizona, found that the average shoe contains 421,000 units of bacteria on the outside and 2,887 on the inside.
See? Ew.
“The common occurrence (96 percent) of coliform and E. coli bacteria on the outside of the shoes indicates frequent contact with fecal material, which most likely originates from floors in public restrooms or contact with animal fecal material outdoors,” Dr Gerba told Harper’s Bazaar.
“Our study also indicated that bacteria can be tracked by shoes over a long distance into your home or personal space after the shoes were contaminated with bacteria.”
Bringing these types of bacteria into your home can lead to a whole load of illnesses, including urinary tract infections, meningitis and diarrheal disease. You can also contract pneumonia if any bacteria gets into your bloodstream.
So, lesson to be learned? Always take your shoes off when you first walk into the house. Always.
