It’s an object you’ve probably touched at least once a week for as long as you’ve owned a car (unless you live in New Jersey). You get out of your car, try not to get too discouraged by the prices, and swipe your card at the gas station. After entering what you want, you lift the lever from the kiosk and begin pumping gas into your tank.
However, this whole process is supposedly a mass recruitment program for germs. One TikTok user, How Dirty (@howdirtyis), wanted to test and really find out if gas pumps are really as bad as everyone says.
Testing the fuel pumps
The premise of the video seems to have been inspired by another TikToker’s comment. They’re talking about the alleged dirt found on gas pump handles.
“My friend is convinced that the handles on the pump are the most disgusting thing,” they write. They then ask How Dirty to conduct an experiment to test this hypothesis.
The TikToker fulfills this wish. He begins his clip standing at a gas pump and asks the question in a fade-in: “How dirty is a gas pump?”
Then they wipe down the inside handle of a gas pump. Next, the TikToker wipes down the buttons that have to be pressed to fill up. After that, he wipes down the buttons on the point-of-sale system.
He then labels the various Petri dishes that were used to wipe down parts of the pump. The result of his experiment? Pure disgust.
Although all of the Petri dishes clearly showed bacterial growth, one turned out to be grosser than the others. The TikToker calls the Petri dish with the swab buttons “absolutely filthy” after picking it up, adding that the dish “also smells horrible.”
Compared to the other bowls, this one seems to have grown more densely and has a deeper color.
@howdirtyis reply to @josefinesvrd How dirty is a gas pump? Could hurt more than just your wallet. #science #germ #sciencebiatch #gross #disgusting #howdirtyis #dirty #interesting #bacteria #sciencetok #cool #fyp #clean #foryou #micro #curious #germ #science #fact #facts #fact #germs #interestingfact #interestingfacts #amazingfacts #amazingfacts #amazing #randomfacts #randomfactsforyou #facttime #dailyfacts #funnyfacts #factoftheday #funnyfactoftheday #bio #biology #biology #biomed #lab #labwork #cleantok #laboratorio #biology #microbiology #sciencetok #scienceismagic #scienceiscool #sciencefair #foreigngerms #germgroup #mygerms #viral #bacterial #bacterial contamination #petric #実験 #面白い #面白い動画 #viral #viralvideo #viraltiktok #trending w#trendingvideo #trendingtiktok #세균 #stem #stem #stemfeed #STEMfeed #longervideos #과학 #과학 실험 #실 험 #박테리아 #웃긴영상 #재미있는영상#scienceexperiment #scienceexperiments #experiment #learnontiktoktogether ♬ Back To Reality – Gwap 99
TikTokers were disgusted
One person wrote that they could not understand why a COVID-19 practice was not carried over into post-pandemic life.
“Is anyone else stuck with hand sanitizer since Covid? I know I never stopped using it daily,” they wrote.
Someone else said he always found gas pumps gross and takes precautions. “I keep gloves in my car door. I’ve always worn gloves,” he wrote.
For others, it was a stark realization of past mistakes they had made out of habit. They didn’t know what they had put their bodies through for years. “How many times have I picked my teeth or eaten chips straight after filling up with gas?” wrote one.
Someone else said it had become common practice for him to disinfect his hands after using a gas pump.
“I always use hand sanitizer right afterward. Lots of it,” they said. “I go home or to the store and immediately wash my hands and use the hand sanitizer again. Hope this works lol.”
Dirtiness ranking
The drive published an article detailing how dirty parts of a car are compared to things that are… normally dirty. The reputation of the gas pump is egregious compared to other objects. For example, the article states that gas pumps are 12,000 times dirtier than the average public toilet seat.
Even worse, however, is the fact that most steering wheels are around 4,000 times dirtier than these toilets. This knowledge could lead people to always carry disinfectant wipes in their cars.
Reader’s Digest also wrote about this dirty fuel pump phenomenon. In its article, the magazine cited the work of Dr. Charles Gerba. A microbiologist who also goes by the nickname Dr. Germ, studied gas pumps at gas stations. Gerba cited some astonishing numbers. “71 percent of all gas pump handles examined were ‘highly contaminated’ with the types of microbes most strongly associated with disease,” he said.
The article also provides an explanation of how gas pumps can become infested with such filth. Drivers stuck in their cars for long periods of time likely don’t have access to soap and water. Perhaps they went for a bathroom break where there was no soap or paper towels? So they keep driving, in an incubator where more and more bacteria grow on their hands. Then they stop to fill up, push the buttons, and fill the petri dish that How Dirty documented.
The Daily Dot reached out to How Dirty via Instagram direct message for further comment.
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