Let’s just get this out there right from the off – no one exactly relishes the thought of having to use a public toilet.

Now, new research has delved into the murky side of what lurks in the bathrooms we share with so many others around us – and it ain’t pretty.

In a new study carried out in the US, researchers from the show The Drs made some rather interesting findings about how using public toilets can impact upon our health.

Undoubtedly, one of the most surprising discoveries made was that the toilet seat is generally one of the cleanest parts of the toilet, which is in direct contrast to the toilet paper dispenser. Indeed, the researchers found that there was a staggering 150 percent more bacteria on the dispenser compared to the toilet seat.

Ew.                                   

While researchers couldn’t emphasise enough the importance of washing your hands (we would hope that this is something you don’t need to be reminded of) they urged people to cover their hands with a paper towel when turning off the tap, so as to avoid the transfer of harmful bacteria right back onto their hands.

So all in all, public toilets are still as yucky as we thought, but this definitely makes for interesting reading!