Portable Germ Fighter?

You scrub your hands thoroughly after using the airport bathroom but then -- cue scary music -- you turn off the faucet. Holy microbes! Now you've risked recontamination, say the makers of the Handler, a new palm-size product designed to keep your fingers off such germ-ridden surfaces as ATM keypads, light switches and, of course, the doors and faucets of public restrooms. Released at the press of a button, the Handler's two-inch hook pulls open doors weighing up to 60 pounds and pushes paper towel levers just like your own digits, according to its manufacturer, Maker Enterprises in Los Angeles. For $9.95, claims http://www.handlerusa.com , the device lets you avoid surfaces befouled by someone's "coughing, blowing their nose and touching their mouth and other more private parts." Yum.

But does it really work? To a degree. Common colds and intestinal ailments can result from touching the microorganisms found on surfaces. That's because it's a short ride from our fingers to our eyes, nose or mouth and into our bodies, where the microbes disrupt normal cellular functioning. But what about germs that accumulate on the Handler itself? Paul Metzger, one of the company's founders, says the product's microscopic silver particles kill most germs -- including 98 percent of one of the hardiest strains of staphylococcus -- almost immediately. That's possible, concedes William Schaffner, chairman of preventive medicine at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. Still, Schaffner doubts that the Handler can shield you from most germ-borne ills.

All washed up Inanimate surfaces such as toilet seats play only a minor role in disease transmission, explains Schaffner. He estimates they account for no more than 10 percent of common illnesses. "It's not a highway of transmission," he says. "It's a little byway in the woods." The best defense is washing your hands or using an alcohol-based hand gel. Adds Schaffner: The greatest risk of catching something comes from person-to-person contact, such as a handshake, because germs love the warm, humid climate humans offer. And no Handler, it seems, can handle that problem.

-- Stacy Weiner