It has been reported that at least 60% of the toothbrushes of students from US university had fecal coliforms. These students have been using communal bathrooms.

The study has been conducted by the researchers at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. The toothbrushes from Quinnipiac students were analyzed by researchers; the students used communal bathrooms with an average of over nine users per bathroom. At least 60% of the toothbrushes were contaminated with fecal matter, irrespective of toothbrush storage methods used by students.

It was also found in the study that there was an 80% chance that fecal matter on the toothbrushes was transmitted from another person using the bathroom. The findings of the study were put forward at the annual meeting of the American Society for Microbiology in New Orleans. The conclusions of the study will be considered preliminary until they get published in peer-reviewed journal.

According to study author Lauren Aber of Quinnipiac University, “The main concern is not with the presence of your own fecal matter on your toothbrush, but rather when a toothbrush is contaminated with fecal matter from someone else, which contains bacteria, viruses or parasites that are not part of your normal flora [microbes]”.

It was also found that there was no difference in helpfulness of methods that were used to clean toothbrushes like rinsing with mouthwash, or cold or hot water. The researchers found that using a toothbrush cover is also not an effective method to protect a toothbrush from bacterial growth.