Um, there’s something you should know about using public bathrooms

If you missed the episode of Mythbusters that found that bathroom floors are much dirtier than toilet seats, then you’re probably an evangelist for the use of toilet seat covers. You know, those thin pieces of tissue paper that keep your booty from touching the seat.

Well, according to researchers, those toilet seat covers aren’t all that effective. While they might ease the minds of the germphobic among us, they aren’t exactly offering much protection against the few creepy-crawlies on a toilet seat.

According to one Dr. William Schaffner, it’s near-impossible to catch a disease from a toilet seat. In an interview with the Huffington Post, the good doctor, a professor of preventative medicine at Vanderbilt University, tells a reporter that your skin, including the skin on your bum, is actually well-equipped to protect you from the occasional strain of E.coli or streptococcus bacteria that can be found on toilet seats.

The best way to effectively rid yourself of germs after a trip to the bathroom, you need to wet your hands, soap them up, rub them together for at least 20 seconds, and then rinse. Otherwise, you run the risk of a run-in with a gastrointestinal illness.

So, if there’s anything to fear, it’s a dirty cutting board, a moldy sponge, or, as we mentioned before,  the bathroom floor, which may have 200 times more germs on it than a clean surface. Have faith in your skin when it comes to the perils of a toilet seat. It’s got your back—side.

(Image via Shutterstock)