It turns out that computer keyboards are more dangerous than a toilet seat when it comes to bacteria, new research reveals.

The British consumer-advocacy group, Which? Computing had a microbiologist test the bacteria levels on the 30-plus computer keyboards in its office and then compare the results with those found on a toilet seat and a toilet door handle.

The tests found that one keyboard had to be removed from the office as it had 150 times the pass-limit of bacteria and was five times filthier than the toilet seat.

“Most people don't give much thought to the grime that builds up on their PC, but if you don't clean your computer, you might as well eat your lunch off the toilet,” The Scotsman quoted Sarah Kidner, editor of Which?, as saying.

Two more keyboards contained staphylococcus aureus, which can lead to skin infections and food poisoning.

Which? went even further with its research and conducted a survey to find how often people cleaned their keyboards along with washing their hands after trips to the bathroom. The results showed that 11 percent never cleaned their keyboards and 46 percent cleaned less than once a month. Only 29 percent clean their keyboards at least once a month.

Microbiologist James Francis of Kingmoor Technological Services in Carlisle, England blames the lack of proper lunch breaks for the large contamination.

“More and more people are eating at their desks and are transferring from hand to mouth all the time. That is making things worse. Telephones are also a problem. We have found a lot of pathogenic disease-causing bacteria on telephones in hotel rooms, for example. It is often down to common sense. If something looks grimy and horrible there is a good chance it is,” he said, as quoted by Fox News.

Which? urges computer users to find time to unplug their computers, turn keyboards upside down and shake them so crumbs and whatever else has accumulated there to be removed. Then, they should use alcohol wipes to really get rid of the germs.