Think twice before eating those dropped crumbs off your computer keyboard —— you might as well be eating off a toilet seat, according to a new study on the amount of germs on keyboards.

A study by British consumer magazine "Which? Computing" asked a microbiologist to examine for bugs on 33 keyboards in a typical London office, a toilet seat and a toilet door handle.

Four keyboards were judged potential health hazards and the microbiologist recommended the removal of one keyboard as it had 150 times the pass limit of bacteria —— five times filthier than the swabbed 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," said Sarah Kidner, editor of "Which? Computing" in a statement.

The study found that eating lunch at desks is the main cause of a bug-infested keyboard. Dropped crumbs and food encourages the growth of millions of bacteria.

Poor personal hygiene, such as not washing hands after going to the toilet, may also add to the dirtiness of keyboards.

But despite the health hazard of a dirty keyboard, a survey of 4,000 people by the magazine found one in 10 people ever cleaned their keyboard while another two in 10 never cleaned their mouse.

Almost half —— or 46 per cent —— cleaned their keyboard less than once a month.

To clear out bugs, the magazine recommends users unplug keyboards, turn them upside down and shake them.

一项有关电脑键盘上细菌数量的最新研究称，以后捡起落在键盘上的食物碎屑往嘴里塞之前可得想好了，这跟从马桶座上捡东西吃差不多。

这项研究由英国消费者杂志《Which? Computing》开展。该杂志让一位微生物学家对伦敦某办公室内的33个电脑键盘，一个马桶座和一个卫生间门把手进行细菌检测。

经检测发现，其中有四个键盘对人体健康存在潜在威胁。有一个键盘上的细菌数量超标150倍，比擦过的马桶座还要脏5倍，这位微生物学家建议将其从办公室搬走。

《Which? Computing》的编辑莎拉?德纳在一份声明说：“多数人都不太在意电脑上积聚的灰尘污垢，但如果你不注意清洁，你等于坐在马桶旁吃午餐。”

研究发现，在办公桌旁吃午餐是导致键盘细菌滋生的主要原因。吃饭过程中掉落的碎屑和食物会滋生大量细菌。

便后不洗手等不良的个人卫生习惯也是导致键盘污染的重要原因。

但尽管不干净的键盘会危害健康，该杂志对四千人开展的一项调查显示，有10%的人从来不清洁电脑键盘，20%的人从不清洁鼠标。

近一半（46%）的人一个月都不清洁一次键盘。

那么应该如何清洁键盘呢？该杂志建议，可以将键盘（从主机上）拔出，然后将其倒过来摇晃。