While TVC is not immediately harmful, elevated levels indicate poor personal hygiene and act as a breeding ground for other bugs.

盡管這些細菌不會立刻讓人得病，但手機上攜帶的細菌量如此之高說明人們的衛生習慣堪憂，而且這也會成為其他細菌滋生的土壤。

The findings from a sample of 30 phones by Which? magazine suggest 14.7 million of the 63 million mobiles in use in the UK today could be potential health hazards.

這項由英國《哪個？》雜志開展的研究共抽樣檢測了30個手機。調查表明，現在英國人使用的6300萬只手機中有1470萬只手機存在健康隱患。

Hygiene expert Jim Francis, who carried out the tests, said: 'The levels of potentially harmful bacteria on one mobile were off the scale. That phone needs sterilising.'

對這些手機進行檢測的衛生專家吉姆•弗朗西斯說：“一個手機上所攜帶的有害細菌量超出了可接受的范圍。這個手機需要消消毒了。”

The most unhygienic phone had more than ten times the acceptable level of TVC and seven were above the threshold.

最臟的手機所攜帶的細菌量是可接受值的十倍多，另外有七只手機的細菌量超標。