The Hidden Health Hazards Lurking ON Your Smartphone

Smartphone, Cell Phone, Mobile Device

Take a minute to think about how your cell phone spends it's day. It starts on a charger overnight, so it's ready to conquer the busy day ahead. Once it's owner picks it up, it must be constantly ready for use, by the owner, and anyone else that picks it up. Smartphones are used for internet searches, social media browsing, chatting with friends and family, taking and sharing photos/videos. listening to music, audio books, and podcasts, for obtaining directions, online banking and shopping, gaming, health/fitness tracking, obtaining a ride, ordering meal deliveries, not to mention just-in-time Artificial Intelligence (AI) communication and more. Just take a look at all the apps installed on your own mobile device and you'll quickly see how busy your phone is throughout the day and many of the reasons people decide to pick it up. With all the benefits of Smartphone use, how often to we stop to consider the risks involved or how we can prevent them?

Mobile Device Storage Locations

Now that we have looked all the uses of our cellphones, let's take a minute to reflect on where our mobile devices spend their time. The number one location Smartphones spend their time is in the owner's hands. That means whatever is on your hands, will likely end up on the phone. But it's not just your hands that come into contact with your device, it's everyone else's hands that touch it too.

Have you passed your phone around the lunch table sharing your latest adventures with coworkers? Have you given your phone to a young child to help keep them entertained? Have you requested the services of a bystander to capture memories of a special vacation or trip? How about showing grandparents pictures of their grandchildren? Or given a prospective date your phone and asking them to enter their contact information for future use? That's a lot of other hands touching your phone too!

And it's not just hands we have to concern ourselves with. Let's talk about the surfaces that our phones touch too. In hospitals and other healthcare facilities, staff use mobile phones and other handheld devices as part of the job. They may document assessment results, or look up lab or diagnostic reports. And these devices may be placed on tables, shelves, moving carts, or pockets. They move room to room with employees caring for patients who often have some type of illness, which may even be infectious to other people. And guess what, healthcare workers go to the bathroom too, and may touch their devices in the restroom too.

We have similar issues in community settings too. Young children are not as health conscious as we would like them to be and when its cold/flu season, they may wipe a runny nose right before you hand them your phone to play with. Older adults experiencing cognitive decline, disabled citizens, mentally ill individuals, and uneducated persons may not be focused on germ prevention either. The big takeaway is that when we hand someone our phones to hold for whatever reason, we just don't know where their hands have been, what they have touched, and how dangerous it might be to us!

A Look at the Research on Cell Phone Contamination

As you might imagine, scientists have been researching this topic, with an overarching goal of keeping humans healthy. What they have found is quite concerning. No matter whether testing is occurring in a healthcare setting or the community, large numbers of microorganisms (germs) have been detected on devices. This has been true even after an attempt to sanitize the phone has occurred.

Kõljalg et al. (2017) found high levels of bacterial contamination on secondary students' phones. Olsen et al. (2020) completed a research review that spanned articles from 24 countries, and a wide variety of microorganisms were detected on devices, including some that are known to be drug-resistant and more difficult to manage. In another article by Olsen et al (2022) the authors noted that some of the viruses found are known to cause cancer such as herpes viruses, polyomaviruses and human papillomaviruses and emphasized the global nature of this problem. Olsen et al. (2023) focused on the reality that phone surfaces also carry SARS-CoV-2.

Prevention Methods for Safer Mobile Phone Use

Knowing the risks of spreading infection through everyday cell phone use can be scary. But we are not helpful victims of this reality. The same humans that use Smartphones for a wide variety of functions daily, are the same ones that hold the power to fight back with preventative measures.

Both Sadeeq et al. (2021) and Sure et al. (2024) discuss the importance of establishing stringent disinfection protocols, not only for healthcare workers, but for community members as well. Combining standardized procedures combined with proper hand hygiene will reduce the overall risk. A list of very practical recommendations includes:

• Don't use your phone in the restroom

  After using the restroom wash your hands before picking up the phone again

• Don't put your phone down on high-touch areas likely to have more germs

• If someone else uses your phone, disinfect it

• If you use your phone in a medical facility, disinfect it

• When using your phone avoid letting it touch your cheek or mouth

• Disinfect your phone at least once a day using manufacturer's guidelines

As product upgrades occur, recommendations can change on how best to care for and sanitize your mobile devices. The two links below are for Apple and Android phones and are a great place to begin learning how to keep you and your family safe.

1. Apple Products: https://support.apple.com/en-us/103258?mod=article_inline

2. Android Products: https://www.androidcentral.com/how-clean-and-disinfect-your-android-smartphone

   
   

References

Kõljalg, S., Mändar, R., Sõber, T., Rööp, T., & Mändar, R. (2017). High level bacterial contamination of secondary school students' mobile phones. Germs, 7(2), 73–77. https://doi.org/10.18683/germs.2017.1111 

Olsen, M., Campos, M., Lohning, A., Jones, P., Legget, J., Bannach-Brown, A., McKirdy, S., Alghafri, R., & Tajouri, L. (2020). Mobile phones represent a pathway for microbial transmission: A scoping review. Travel medicine and infectious disease, 35, 101704. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tmaid.2020.101704 

Olsen, M., Demaneuf, T., Singh, G., Goldsworthy, A., Jones, P., Morgan, M., Nassar, R., Senok, A., Ghemrawi, R., Almheiri, R., Marzooqi, H. A., Almansoori, S., Albastaki, A., Almansoori, R., McKirdy, S., Alghafri, R., & Tajouri, L. (2023). Do mobile phone surfaces carry SARS-CoV-2 virus? A systematic review warranting the inclusion of a "6th" moment of hand hygiene in healthcare. Journal of infection and public health, 16(11), 1750–1760. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jiph.2023.08.017 

Olsen, M., Nassar, R., Senok, A., Moloney, S., Lohning, A., Jones, P., Grant, G., Morgan, M., Palipana, D., McKirdy, S., Alghafri, R., & Tajouri, L. (2022). Mobile phones are hazardous microbial platforms warranting robust public health and biosecurity protocols. Scientific reports, 12(1), 10009. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-14118-9 

Sadeeq, T., Arikan, A., Sanlidag, T., Guler, E., & Suer, K. (2021). Big Concern for Public Health: Microbial Contamination of Mobile Phones. Journal of infection in developing countries, 15(6), 798–804. https://doi.org/10.3855/jidc.13708 

Sure, S. S., Narayanan, C. D., N, A. K., & Chandramohan, N. (2024). Bacterial Colonization of Mobile Phones: Myth or Reality. Cureus, 16(5), e60060. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.60060 

Website Links:

"Cleaning Your iPhone." Apple Support, Apple Inc., 2025. support.apple.com/en-us/108765

"Galaxy S24 Ultra Support." Samsung Electronics, 2025. samsung.com/global/galaxy/galaxy-s24-ultra/

Keeping your phone clean can help prevent you from getting sick. Jasmin Cheairs Feb 03, 2025. https://medicine.iu.edu/blogs/indiana-health/germs-that-live-on-your-phones 

Your cell phone is 10 times dirtier than a toilet seat. Here's what to do about it. August 23, 2017. https://ihpi.umich.edu/news/your-cell-phone-10-times-dirtier-toilet-seat-heres-what-do-about-it 

The dirty truth about your phone – and why you need to stop scrolling in the bathroom. April 24, 2023. https://theconversation.com/the-dirty-truth-about-your-phone-and-why-you-need-to-stop-scrolling-in-the-bathroom-203988

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