‘Might hurt more than just your wallet’: Expert shows the real reason you want to think twice before using the gas pump
It's an object you've probably touched at least weekly ever since you owned a car (unless you live in New Jersey). You hop out of your car, try not to get too down by the prices, and swipe your card at the gas station. After you key in what you want, you lift the handle from the kiosk and begin pumping gas into your tank.
However, that whole process is allegedly a mass recruitment program for germs. One TikTok user, How Dirty (@howdirtyis), wanted to test and really see if gas pump machines were as bad as everyone was saying.
Testing the gas pumps
The premise of the video appears to have been prompted by another TikToker's comment. They speak to the presumed filth that is present on gas pump handles.
"My friend is convinced that the most disgusting thing is the handles on the pump," they write. Then they ask How Dirty to conduct an experiment to test this hypothesis.
The TikToker obliges them. They begin their clip standing at a gas pump and pose the question in an overlay: "How dirty is a gas pump?"
Then, they work on swabbing the inside handle of a gas pump. Next, the TikToker transitions to swabbing down the buttons that need to be pressed to dispense their gas. After that, he swabs the POS system buttons.
He then goes on to label the different petri dishes by which part of the pump was swabbed. The results of his experiment? Pure disgust.
While there were clear bacterial growths in all of the petri dishes, as it turns out, one was grosser than the others. The TikToker, after picking up the petri dish containing the swab buttons, calls it "absolutely filthy." They go on to add that the dish "smells awful too."
When compared to the other dishes, this one appears to have thicker growth and a deeper color.
@howdirtyis Replying to @josefinesvrd How dirty is a gas pump? Might hurt more than just your wallet. #science #germ #sciencebiatch #gross #nasty #howdirtyis #dirty #interesting #bacteria #sciencetok #cool #fyp #clean #foryou #micro #curious #サイエンス #科学 #実験 #バクテリア #funfact #facts #fact #germs #interestingfact #interestingfacts #amazingfact #amazingfacts #amazing #randomfacts #randomfact #randomfactsforyou #factstime #dailyfact #funfacts #factoftheday #funfactoftheday #bio #biology #biomed #lab #labwork #cleantok#laboratorio #biologia #microbiologia #scitok #ScienceTok #scienceismagic #scienceiscool #sciencefair #foreigngerms #germsquad #mygerms #viral #bacterial #bacterialcontamination #petriedish #実験 #面白い #面白い動画 #viral #viralvideo #viraltiktok #trending w#trendingvideo #trendingtiktok #세균 #stem #stem #stemfeed #STEMfeed #longervideos #과학 #과학실험 #실험 #박테리아 #웃긴영상 #재미있는영상#scienceexperiment #scienceexperiments #experiment #learnontiktoktogether ♬ Back To Reality - Gwap 99
TikTokers were disgusted
One person wrote that they couldn't understand why a COVID-19 practice didn't carry over into post-pandemic life.
"Anyone else stuck on the hand sanitizer ever since covid? I know i never stopped using it on the daily," they wrote.
Someone else said that they've always thought gas pumps were gross, so they take precautions. "I keep gloves in my car door. I have always used gloves," they write.
For others, it was a stark realization of past errors made out of sheer habit. Not knowing what they've been subjecting their bodies to for years. "How many times I be picking my teeth or eating chips out of a bag right after I put gas?" one wrote.
Someone else said they've made it common practice to sanitize their hands after using a gas pump.
"I always use hand sanitizer right after. Like a lot of it," they said. "Get home or store and go wash my hands immediately and hand sanitizer again. Hoping that works lol."
Dirtiness ranking
The Drive published a piece detailing just how dirty parts of a car are compared to things that are...typically dirty. The gas pump handle's reputation is egregious when compared to other objects. For instance, the piece writes that fuel handles are 12,000 times dirtier than the average public toilet seat.
What's even grosser, however, is the fact that most steering wheels are around 4,000 times filthier than these toilets. This knowledge might want to make people carry sanitizing wipes inside their cars at all times.
Reader's Digest also wrote about this filthy fuel-pumping phenomenon. In its piece, the outlet cited the work of Dr. Charles Gerba. A microbiologist who also goes by the nickname, Dr. Germ, researched gas station pumps. Gerba spoke to some astounding figures. "71 percent of all the gas-pump handles that were sampled were ‘highly contaminated’ with [the] sorts of microbes most highly associated with illness and disease," he said.
The piece also provides an explanation as to how pumps can become infested with such grime. Drivers who are stuck in their cars for extended periods of time probably don't have access to soap and water. Maybe they went to a bathroom stop that didn't have any soap and paper towels? So they drive on, in an incubated greenhouse growing more and more bacteria on your hands. You then stop for gas and press the buttons, adding to the petri concoction How Dirty documented.
The Daily Dot has reached out to How Dirty via Instagram direct message for further comment.
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