Report Reveals Bacteria Lurking in Cinemas

As the 96th Academy Awards ceremony will be held this weekend on Sunday, March 10, movie lovers will soon be buying tickets to watch any rereleased winning films. But have you ever wondered what germs might lurk in those cool, dark movie theaters?

Online gambling company Betway swabbed and tested seats and cup holders inside five United Kingdom cinemas to find out just how clean and safe theaters really are. Its study found that an average of 1,864 colonies of bacteria exist on a single cinema seat—14 times the number of germs typically found on a toilet seat. The dirtiest cinema seat tested for 3,000 colonies of bacteria.

Similarly, the theater cup holders harbored even more bacteria—3,010 colonies of bacteria, which is 22 times more than the average toilet seat.

Types of germs found included staphylococcus and micrococcus bacteria, found on all of the seats tested; bacillus bacteria, found in all of the cup holders; pseudomonas bacteria, found on several seats and in many cup holders; and in one cup holder, mold, which, while not a bacterium, could still cause gastrointestinal problems when ingested.

According to the report, while the bacteria found is mostly harmless to healthy humans, some species of bacillus can contaminate food and cause food poisoning, while a type of pseudomonas—specifically pseudomonas aeruginosa—can lead to infections. 

Betway offered the following tips to avoid bringing the theater’s germs back home. Upon returning from the theater, movie goers should:

• Wash their hands
• Change their clothes
• Take off their shoes.

To view the complete study, visit Betway’s website.