Think twice before eating those dropped crumbs off your computer keyboard —— you might as well be eating off a toilet seat, according to a new study on the amount of germs on keyboards.

    A study by British consumer magazine "Which? Computing" asked a microbiologist to examine for bugs on 33 keyboards in a typical London office, a toilet seat and a toilet door handle.

    Four keyboards were judged potential health hazards and the microbiologist recommended the removal of one keyboard as it had 150 times the pass limit of bacteria —— five times filthier than the swabbed toilet seat.

    "Most people don't give much thought to the grime that builds up on their PC, but if you don't clean your computer, you might as well eat your lunch off the toilet," said Sarah Kidner, editor of "Which? Computing" in a statement.

    The study found that eating lunch at desks is the main cause of a bug-infested keyboard. Dropped crumbs and food encourages the growth of millions of bacteria.

    Poor personal hygiene, such as not washing hands after going to the toilet, may also add to the dirtiness of keyboards.

    But despite the health hazard of a dirty keyboard, a survey of 4,000 people by the magazine found one in 10 people ever cleaned their keyboard while another two in 10 never cleaned their mouse.

    Almost half —— or 46 per cent —— cleaned their keyboard less than once a month.

    To clear out bugs, the magazine recommends users unplug keyboards, turn them upside down and shake them.

    一項有關電腦鍵盤上細菌數量的最新研究稱，以后撿起落在鍵盤上的食物碎屑往嘴里塞之前可得想好了，這跟從馬桶座上撿東西吃差不多。

    這項研究由英國消費者雜志《Which? Computing》開展。該雜志讓一位微生物學家對倫敦某辦公室內的33個電腦鍵盤，一個馬桶座和一個衛生間門把手進行細菌檢測。

    經檢測發現，其中有四個鍵盤對人體健康存在潛在威脅。有一個鍵盤上的細菌數量超標150倍，比擦過的馬桶座還要臟5倍，這位微生物學家建議將其從辦公室搬走。

    《Which? Computing》的編輯莎拉?德納在一份聲明說：“多數人都不太在意電腦上積聚的灰塵污垢，但如果你不注意清潔，你等于坐在馬桶旁吃午餐。”

    研究發現，在辦公桌旁吃午餐是導致鍵盤細菌滋生的主要原因。吃飯過程中掉落的碎屑和食物會滋生大量細菌。

    便后不洗手等不良的個人衛生習慣也是導致鍵盤污染的重要原因。

    但盡管不干凈的鍵盤會危害健康，該雜志對四千人開展的一項調查顯示，有10%的人從來不清潔電腦鍵盤，20%的人從不清潔鼠標。

    近一半（46%）的人一個月都不清潔一次鍵盤。

    那么應該如何清潔鍵盤呢？該雜志建議，可以將鍵盤（從主機上）拔出，然后將其倒過來搖晃。