Why you shouldn't keep a mug on your desk at work

We're not going to lie, workplace kitchens gross us out a lot.

From the old mangled sponges to the communal condiments that are usually left uncovered and the potent tea towels, we tend to stay as far away as possible from it.

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However, the odd time we hit that 3pm slump and all we want is a cup of tea and a biscuit, so usually we take a mug we keep at our desk and head to the dreaded kitchen.

And while we may think we're being super-clean by using our own crockery, it turns out we may be leaving ourselves open to a mountain of bacteria from keeping our mugs at our work desks.

Speaking to Men's Health, Charles Gerba, Ph.D., a professor of environmental microbiology at the University of Arizona, said storing your favourite cup at your desk could leave it susceptible to "a colony of germs."

He went on to claims that twenty percent of office mugs carry fecal bacteria, and 90 percent are covered in other germs.

This is usually down to those mangled dish cloths we spoke about earlier, which are usually laden down with harmful bacteria.

Rather alarming, he also claimed that this bacteria can live on your mug for up to three days.

Instead he recommended always putting your work mug in the dishwasher to make sure it gets a thorough cleaning.

Also among the list of items that harbour unwanted bacteria were reusable water bottles, gym bags, your own bed sheets, remote controls and towels.

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