Surprising Dirty Zones In An Airplane That People Should Watch Out For

Have you ever wondered what parts of an airplane cabin are the dirtiest? Is it the bathroom? Nope. The bathroom may be a dirty spot on the plane, but it's definitely not the dirtiest. 

Travelmath.com sent a microbiologist to collect samples from five different airports to find out how much bacteria is actually around you on an airplane. One thing can be said for sure, it's dirtier than your home. You might be surprised what nooks and crannies are the dirtiest.  

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So you've boarded the plane and want to avoid the dirty zones. What do you avoid?

The microbiologist who took samples from different airplanes analyzed his samples according to CFUs, otherwise known as colony-forming units. This measure provides an estimate of the number of bacteria in a sample. 

The higher the number, the more bacteria. Let's start off with something in the bathroom.

1. Bathroom flush button. 

While most people might think that the flush button is probably the dirtiest place on the plane, this is not the case. It still definitely has bacteria on it, though. 

The button comes in at 265 CFU/sq. in. For comparison, a cell phone has roughly 27 CFU/sq. in.

2. Air vent.

Can you believe the air vent has more bacteria on it than the bathroom flush button? How is that even possible? 

We still haven't seen the dirtiest part of the plane. 

How about the seat belt buckle?

3. Seat belt buckle.

The seat belt buckle is dirty, but not even close to the dirtiest. The buckle comes in slightly lower than the overhead air vent and the bathroom flush button at 230 CFU/sq. in. 

Are you ready for the dirtiest sample of the entire airplane cabin?

4. Tray table. 

Okay, this is a bit surprising, mainly because we probably eat food and drink beverages that are sitting right on top of this. The tray table has nearly 10 times as much the bacteria on it as the seat buckle with 2,155 CFU/sq. in. 

Unfortunately, before you even get on the plane you can be exposed to tons of germs. 

Travelmath.com also had an analysis done on spots in the airport itself...

Let's take a look!

5. Bathroom stall locks. 

When you go to the bathroom in an airport terminal, the bathroom stall lock that you touch is less dirty than the flush button on the plane.

6. Drinking fountain buttons. 

Whoa, okay, that's a big jump up. Next time I'm waiting for a flight, I'm going to spend the money for a bottle of water.

To provide a little perspective to all of the data I just showed you, here are some common household objects and their bacteria levels. 

Even though the places in an airplane didn't seem that dirty, once you realize that they are about as dirty as a kitchen countertop and your home toilet seat, you might think differently. 

Of course, most surfaces in the world have bacteria on them, so it's impossible to avoid. It may be a good idea to wipe down that tray table next time you have an in-flight meal, however.

All I know is that this is me on my next flight.

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h/t Travelmath