Scientists issue urgent warning about using your phone in bed

Doomscrolling on social media before falling asleep is a bad habit that many of us would like to kick. Researchers have found another reason to avoid scrolling on your phone at night, as they reveal your device could be harbouring bacteria usually found in cockroach faeces ‹ Slide me › Researchers swabbed smartphones to reveal that they harbour large amounts of the bacteria Pseudomonas aeruginosa which can be harmful With the average person touching their phone an estimated 2,617 times per day, it is no wonder that our devices can quickly become extremely unhygienic. These images show bacteria and yeast colonies grown from samples taken off various smartphones Previous studies have found that one in eight cockroaches captured in hospitals carries this potentially harmful bacteria. ‹ Slide me › Despite many people wearing a smartwatch to bed to measure their sleep patterns, the devices were found to harbour large amounts of bacteria This study reveals that your phone is among the dirtiest objects in the home, containing even more bacteria than the toilet or television remote Research has found that the average person sweats up to 700ml per night and that the bed typically reaches temperatures of 20°C. Previous studies have found that as many as one in eight cockroaches carries the Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteria For those with weakened immune systems, the consequences can be even more dire.