Most of us wouldn’t think twice about taking a photo for a tourist. But swab testing by JRPass found a phone sample recorded the same bacteria count as a trash can on a train, and three times that of a coat. Full release below, and methodology and data are available on request.
A stranger’s phone recorded the same bacteria count as a train trash can, swab tests find
Many of us are used to seeing tourists in our towns and cities, and most of us wouldn’t think twice about taking their photo. However, accepting a stranger’s phone means handling an item that recorded the same bacterial count as a trash can on a train.
Haroun Khan, founder of JRPass, explains why the finding is a useful reminder to think about hand hygiene when handling someone else’s phone.
Bacterial growth counts on high-traffic items and surfaces:
| Surface | CFU* per 3cm² |
| Shoes | 65 |
| Seat | 60 |
| Phone | 45 |
| Trash can | 45 |
| Train table | 20 |
| Coat | 15 |
*CFU stands for colony forming units, which are the clusters of bacteria that grow in a petri dish from a swab. Figures from two JRPass swab studies: travel items (February 2026) and train surfaces (July 2026).
“We tend to think of trash cans, public toilets and transport surfaces as the dirty things we encounter while traveling, but our testing showed that an everyday item we carry everywhere can collect considerable bacterial growth too. In our tests, the phone sample produced the same CFU count as a train trash can sample, and more than three times that of a coat.”
JRPass tested commonly handled travel items using sterile swabs and nutrient agar plates, incubating the samples for eight days before counting visible colony growth.
In the two JRPass swab studies, the tested phone and train trash can samples each recorded 45 CFU per 3cm². The phone’s count is also three times higher than that of a coat, which resulted in a CFU count of 15 per 3cm². The travel-item study also found substantially higher colony growth on passport samples, which recorded 436 CFU per 3cm².
Haroun mentions, “A phone recording 45 CFU isn’t necessarily ‘safer’ than one recording 52, as colony counts alone don’t tell us what types of bacteria are present or the level of risk. We are surrounded by many types of bacteria all the time. On top of this, phones are left on many surfaces during travel, and unlike many public surfaces, phones are seldom sanitized. Bathroom trips and phone calls can create additional opportunities for contamination too. So when you take a stranger’s phone to snap a photo, you’re handling an item that may have picked up microbes from many different environments.”
He continues, “This certainly isn’t a reason to stop offering to take a photo for someone. Helping another traveler capture a memory is one of those small, friendly interactions that makes travel enjoyable. The takeaway isn’t to stop helping strangers with their photos. It’s simply to remember that phones are high-touch personal items too. If you handle someone else’s, avoid touching your face and wash or sanitize your hands afterwards.”
Five simple hygiene tips for outside the home:
- Wash or sanitize your hands regularly
- Wipe down your personal space before settling in
- Keep food, drinks and personal belongings off shared surfaces where possible
- Avoid touching your face while traveling
- Clean frequently used items when you get to your destination