Your Toothbrush Probably Has Poop On It [Video]

Before you head to bed tonight and brush your teeth, you’re gonna want to hear this story. And then, take it from us, you’re gonna want to throw out your toothbrush. A study out of Quinnipiac University in Connecticut found that the chances your toothbrush is covered in feces is a whopping 60-percent.

And it’s even worse if you use a communal bathroom. In cases where an average of nine people used a bathroom (hello college freshman), there’s an 80-percent chance the feces belongs to someone else. OK, we’ll pause so you can run to the bathroom and throw up a little.

Now if you’re thinking someone may have thrown your toothbrush in the toilet to get the poop on it, you’d be wrong. According to the study, the fecal coliforms are spread through the air when someone flushes.

And it seems there isn’t much you can do about it, other than use a new, sealed toothbrush each day. The study found that rinsing your toothbrush with mouthwash, or hot or cold water, did nothing to get rid of the feces. What’s more, a toothbrush cover isn’t any better, and actually helps create an environment where bacteria grows.

This story has been batted around long enough that recently the MythBusters tackled it a few years back. Unfortunately, they came up with the same conclusion. Sorry about that.

There are two problems with these studies: First off, everything has poop on it, your phone, your computer keyboard, your clothes. There’s nothing you can do about it. So in this case, ignorance is bliss.

And second, bathroom pro tips that everyone should be following regardless of all this butt-blast-on-the-brush talk… Close the door when you drop a deuce and close the lid when you flush. It’s all just common courtesy.