This Common Travel Item Is the Dirtiest Thing You Pack, New Study Finds-and No, It's Not Your Shoes

"After conducting the experiment, the team came to a surprising conclusion: Your passport is actually the nastiest thing you travel with on your journeys across the globe. Specifically, the experiment measured colony-forming units, or CFUs, which is essentially a way scientists count how much bacteria is growing on the surface of an object. The higher the number of CFUs, the more microbial activity is detected."

"Passports clocked in at 436 CFU per three square meters, which may not seem like a big deal, until you learn that the next closest item, checked luggage, had just 97. Shoes came in third with 65, followed by hand luggage at 56, phones at 45, and coats last with 15."

"What's important to remember is that these numbers don't automatically mean your passport, or anything else you travel with, is dangerous, but it does suggest that you may want to be wiping down your passport more than you think."

JRPass.com conducted a microbial culture experiment to identify which travel items carry the highest bacteria levels. The study tested six common travel items including airport clothing, mobile phones, hand luggage, shoes, hold luggage, and passports using nutrient agar to grow bacteria and fungi. Results measured colony-forming units (CFUs) to quantify microbial activity. Passports emerged as the dirtiest item at 436 CFU per three square meters, significantly exceeding checked luggage at 97 CFU, shoes at 65 CFU, hand luggage at 56 CFU, phones at 45 CFU, and coats at 15 CFU. While high bacterial counts don't necessarily indicate danger, the findings suggest passports warrant more frequent sanitization during travel.

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