A study conducted by academics of the Florida Atlantic University (USA), made public in recent weeks, has highlighted how the strap of smartwatches and fitness bracelets is a veritable repository of pathogenic bacteria.
The experiment involved a few dozen volunteers who carry out completely different activities, trades and professions: there are individuals who work in the office, those who drive a vehicle for most of the day, those involved in sports and workouts in the gym, firefighters fire, vets who also perform surgery, and so on.
The bracelets mounted in the wearable devices they are in constant contact with the skin, often day and night. However, few consider that the strap of these products can host large colonies of potentially very harmful bacteria.
Pay attention to the choice and cleaning of the smartwatch strap
The university students of Florida Atlantic have ascertained that all the straps examined for the study (except only one …) saw the presence of bacteria such Pseudomonasincluding enterobacteria such as Staphylococcus, Escherichia coli and of the type Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The latter is a germ that can cause infections in humans, especially in hospitalized patients. It can be responsible for pneumonia, blood problems and other parts of the body after surgery.
The staphylococci they can cause diseases of the skin, bones, soft tissues and blood; L’Escherichia coli instead it is a bacterium commonly found in the human and other animal intestines: it can cause problems at various levels (intestinal, blood, urinary).
The bacterial concentrations vary according to the type of strap: scholars have found that there are important variations between a material and the other. The workmanship of the strap that we all keep on our wrist therefore matters a lot. In general, the following equivalence can be put on paper:
bacterial concentration fabric ≧ plastic ≧ rubber ≧ leather and metal
The bracelets made in metallo in short, they tend to have relatively few bacteria on their surfaces: of the samples analysed, the only “clean” one was a strap made of gilded metal.
As the authors of the research explain, bacteria bind more easily with the surfaces of materials that are ORDER and easily loaded with static electricity. These are conditions that can significantly contribute to bacterial growth. Obviously the activity carried out by each subject wearing a bracelet is crucial: the visitors of gymsfor example, carry wearable devices that – more likely – hide colonies of staphylococcus.
The most effective cleaners for cleaning smartwatch bands and other wearables
The research team then put i cleaners commonly available on the market to ascertain which ones are most effective for cleaning the bands thus targeted by bacteria.
They were used to carry out the test Lysoli.e. a household disinfectant widespread overseas, 70% ethanol (often used in health care environments as an alcoholic disinfectant) and apple cider vinegar, popular as a natural and organic disinfectant.
To give an idea of their content, the products Lysol contain alkyl-dimethylbenzylammonium saccharinate, ethanol, lactic acid, ammonium chloride, citric acid and octyl-decyl-dimethyl-ammonium chlorideall with disinfectant and antibacterial properties.
The test results show that all three types of disinfectants are effective on most materials, killing almost all bacteria within 30 seconds. With some exceptions.
On plastic, for example, the disinfection of bracelets it was not found to be effective before 120 seconds: rough, porous and sticky surfaces require longer contact times.
Also, the only ones effective cleaners against staphylococci are disinfectant sprays and ethanol. A solution such as apple cider vinegar did not significantly reduce the number of staphylococci even after 300 seconds of application.
In conclusion, all those strap devices that are often worn daily without the routine cleaninginstead, they must be sanitized regularly to avoid the accumulation of potentially pathogenic bacteria.