[katieHaylor (OP)]

Shireen says:

I'm convinced that I heard the Naked Scientist once say that most germs come from our toilet bowls. If that is the case, then what happens to germs when we 'poo' while on the loo? Do these germs jump back up on us and attach themselves and hang around all day?

What do you think?

[evan_au]

In most Western homes, there are more bacteria on kitchen surfaces than on toilet seats.

This is because we use more vicious cleaners in the bathroom than in the kitchen.
And the kitchen is full of food.

[Bored chemist]

They don't "jump" but they do get splashed.

[jeffreyH]

Studies have been done on the effects of flushing when leaving the toilet seat up. Swiping surfaces afterwards shows the extent of contamination. It can end up on your toothbrush, on toilet paper, towels etc etc. That is not counting the germs on your hands if not washed and dried thoroughly. And yet our species has survived.

[chris]

The broad-minded among you might like to follow up on this item we made a few years ago when we were asked, "if coughs and sneezes spread diseases, do farts transmit diarrhoea?"

The answer is, potentially, yes:

https://www.thenakedscientists.com/articles/interviews/kitchen-science-food-poisoning-and-passing-bacterial-wind

[chris]

Maybe you need some of this:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01N42EYS7/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=thenakedscien-21&camp=1634&creative=6738&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=B01N42EYS7&linkId=e2f93c74bd42a184d232cc76939b48f4

[Danne]

The toilet is actually more clean than your cleaning spounge.

Licking the toilet has less harm than licking your cleaning spounge.