Aside from toilets and trays, it turns out the air vent buttons in airplane cabins rank among the most bacteria-laden spots.

▲Cabin (illustration / Photo by Peng Huaiyu)

By Rita

After many reports, travelers now know that airplane toilets and tray tables are very dirty areas in the cabin, but a recent test commissioned by Travel Math found that the air vent buttons are also dirty!

According to HuffPost, theair vent buttonsabove passengers’ heads are among the top dirtiest surfaces in the cabin according to the research report. This study commissioned microbiologists to investigate four airplanes and four airports, finding that the air vent buttons had 285 colony-forming units (CFUs, a method of counting bacteria where higher values indicate more bacteria) per square inch. While this may seem low compared to the tray tables’ 2,155 CFUs, it actually exceeds the toilet’s count (265 CFUs).

Some flight attendants say that the blankets on the plane are changed every morning and are sent for laundering. In fact, blankets are also high in bacteria, as they come into close contact with our bodies during use, making it easy for bacteria to enter through the lungs or eyes.

However, some argue that blaming illness on travel or a dirty cabin is a bit of an overreaction. Because after leaving the cabin, passengers inevitably go through many places and come into contact with many people—it’s not entirely due to the cabin being too dirty that causes illness. The best approach is always to “wash your hands frequently.”