The T Is Lousy With Microbes — But It Won't Make You Sick

For many daily riders of the T, it's easy to be paranoid about the invisible bacteria they know must be lurking on every surface of the train cars. Each time you see someone sneeze or cough without properly covering their mouth, you know for sure that millions of bacteria are beginning to cover the seats and metal bars and waiting to infect the next person who touches them.

Well, if you do feel that way, you're half right. There are countless microbes all over the Boston transit system. But it's no reason to be paranoid.

According to a new study published in mSystems, an open-access journal from the American Society for Microbiology, there's little difference between the microbes you'll encounter on a subway and those you'll find most other places.

Curtis Huttenhower, a professor of computation biology and bioinformatics at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and one of the authors of the study, pointed out in a press release that the microbes they found are no different than those you might pick up when shaking hands.

"Even when we looked closely, there was nothing unusual or dangerous about the microbes we found," Huttenhower added. "It shows that, in the absence something like flu season, all the bugs you run into, even in a crowded environment like the T, look like your normal microbial environment."

Infectious organisms with antibiotic-resistant genetics, which makes them particularly dangerous to humans, were found in numbers "much lower than what you'd find in a normal human gut," Huttenhower said.

The study was conducted by a team at the school led by Tiffany Hsu, a graduate student. It notes that the types of microbes were relatively uniform across different lines on the T, despite demographic differences.

The largest source of variation in the microbial life they discovered was the different surfaces on the train. The most microbes were found on hanging grips, and somewhat less on the seats and touch screens. Metal poles, Tsu noted, do not attract as many microbes as other more porous surfaces do.

Most of the microbes found are associated with human skin cells.

In total, the researchers tested almost 100 samples from train cars on the red, orange and green lines, as well as in the stations, on three separate days in 2013.

The authors of the paper hope this work contributes to our understanding of what kind of microbial life is typical and healthy to find in our environment. With a deeper knowledge of what microorganisms we should expect to encounter in our everyday lives, we can better protect ourselves against the more rare bacteria and viruses that pose a threat to human health.

And even though the researchers found nothing particularly troubling in their study, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends regular hand washing throughout the day to reduce your risk of spreading or catching an infection, whether or not you take public transportation.

If taking the T scares you into more healthy hand-washing habits, that's a good thing. But there's no reason to be particularly nervous for your health when riding the rails with your fellow Bostonians.

Read the full study>>

Photo Credit: Shinya Suzuki via Flickr (edited)