Apple Watch and Fitbit wristbands are ‘hotbeds’ for harmful bacteria, study reveals

Your Apple Watch or Fitbit wristband is a hot spot for harmful bacteria linked to fever, diarrhea and a weakened immune system, according to a new study.

Researchers swept a series of wristbands and found them teeming with E. coli and Staphylococcus spp, which can lead to pneumonia.

The contaminated tires were made of plastic, rubber, cloth, leather and metal.

The gym-goer showed the highest numbers of bacteria linked to staph infections that can cause sepsis or even death, highlighting sanitizing wristbands after exercise.

However, the team found that those made of gold and silver were the most hygienic.

The study’s senior author, biological sciences professor Nwadiuto Esiobu, called physically active healthcare workers a group that would like to pay particular attention to the study’s findings, to avoid infecting high-risk or immunocompromised patients.

“The amount and taxonomy of bacteria we found on the wristbands demonstrate the need for regular disinfection of these surfaces,” said study senior author Nwadiuto Esiobu, a professor of biological sciences at Florida Atlantic University.

Esiobu selected active health professionals who go to the gym as a group that would like to pay particular attention to the study’s findings to avoid infecting high-risk patients.

“The ability of many of these bacteria to significantly affect the health of immunocompromised hosts indicates that health care workers and others in hospital settings have a special need to sanitize these surfaces on a regular basis,” she said.

Nearly all of the wristbands sampled, 95 percent, were contaminated with some bacteria, with the most common bacterial species being “skin dwellers,” such as genera Staphylococcus and Pseudomonas.

While Esiobu and her coauthors said the prevalence of “Staphylococcus spp” bacteria on 85 percent of the wristbands was “not unexpected,” the presence of “Pseudomonas spp” on 30 percent of the wristbands was a “public health concern.”

The gut bacteria E. coli, which usually finds its contagious route via fecal-oral transmission and was found on 60 percent of sampled wristbands, was also cause for concern, they said.

The highest mean infected wristbands yielded 34,600 bacterial colonies per square centimeter of surface (cfu/cm2) and 15,200 cfu/cm2 on rubber and plastic bands, respectively, when samples were grown in a petri dish-like culture.

Metallic gold and silver wristbands had approximately zero to 18 cfu/cm2.

“On average,” the authors wrote, “the trend of bacterial load was fabric ≥ plastic ≥ rubber ≥ leather > metal.”

A bacterial culture was taken from the plastic wristband of a 39-year-old male CrossFit fan on the left, and a sample from the rubber wristband of a 25-year-old female CrossFit enthusiast on the right. After 30 hours of incubation, the plastic sample had no Staph aureus bacteria, but the rubber did

The study’s senior author believes that other commonly used personal wearables, such as earbuds or mobile phones, “should be similarly studied” because of their potential for infection transmission

All of their results led the researchers to turn to decontamination methods.

They wrote that both Lysol Disinfectant Spray and 70 percent ethanol were “highly effective, regardless of the wristband material, with a 99.99 percent fatality rate within 30 seconds.”

Apple cider vinegar proved less effective, but was able to do the job in about two minutes.

According to the study, there was no significant difference between men and women in who had the most bacteria-laden wristbands.

The most useful predictor of which tire contained the most bacteria, they report, was the texture of the material and the person’s activity or recent hygiene prior to testing.

“Plastic and rubber wristbands may provide a more suitable environment for bacterial growth, as porous and static surfaces tend to attract and be colonized by bacteria,” Esiobu said.

“Other possible forms of bacterial transmission and facilitation of infection, such as ear plugs or cell phones,” she noted, “should be similarly studied.”