Meghan May helps ‘SELF Magazine’ identify the dirtiest items in your home

Meghan May recently helped SELF Magazine identify the dirtiest items in your home
Meghan May recently helped SELF Magazine identify the dirtiest items in your home

There are a lot of dirty environments in public places that are notorious for being filled with harmful bacteria, such as airport bathrooms. But places in your home can be hot spots for germs that you may want to clean more often.

Meghan May, Ph.D., associate professor of microbiology and infectious disease at the University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine, tells SELF Magazine of those places is your kitchen.

“The absolute grossest place in the kitchen is the sink,” May explained.

That may seem odd considering it’s where you clean a lot of things. May says think of cutting boards that have been covered in raw meat, whisks you used on raw eggs, or even the splatter from your hands as you wash them.

Other dirty items in your home include the area surrounding your toilet bowl, doorknobs and light switches; and your cleaning sponges and rags.

The best items to clean your home with include microfiber cloths, bleach and vinegar.

May says you’ll want to leave any kind of liquid solutions in contact with the surface in question for at least two minutes so they can do their job and kill any harmful bacteria.

About the University of New England

The University of New England is Maine’s largest independent university, with two beautiful coastal campuses in Maine, a one-of-a-kind study abroad campus in Tangier, Morocco, and an array of flexible, accredited online degrees. In an uncommonly welcoming and supportive community, we offer hands-on learning, empowering students to make a positive impact in a world full of challenges. The state’s top provider of health professionals, we are home to Maine’s only medical college, Maine’s only dental college, a variety of other interprofessionally aligned health care degree programs, as well as nationally recognized programs for marine science degrees, natural and social sciences degrees, arts and humanities degrees, and business degrees.