Fashion

Germ-free Smartphones Are On The Way

by Melanie Richtman

One of the biggest skincare rules is to avoid touching your face, which is why it totally doesn't make sense that we spend so much time with a phone pressed to our face, knowing that it's definitely not cleaner than our fingers. Thankfully, an EPA-registered antimicrobial phone glass now exists so your screen will stay germ-free. ZTE, a Chinese electronics company, is the genius company behind the solution for the millions of germs covering your smartphone right now.

The new ZTE glass, which has been nicknamed Gorilla Glass (a little misleading in my opinion, because to me, Gorilla Glass implies being unbreakable, not clean), boasts a vague "antimicrobial property" that supposedly lasts for as long as you have the phone. Although the company warns users that it will not "protect users or provide health benefits," but will instead work against stain and odor causing bacteria. I need a scientist over here, because I don't get the purpose of protecting us smartphone users from stain and odor causing bacteria—I think we're more concerned about the bacteria that causes breakouts and diseases.

Joshua Zeichner, who works in the dermatology department of New York City's Mount Sinai Hospital, told Allure that this technology will be somewhat beneficial because it will reduce the amount of bacteria you're shoving into your pores every time you answer a call.

ANNA ZIEMINSKI/AFP/Getty Images

Good news, if you ignore all calls and simply text people, you will never have to worry about any phone-dwelling microbes on your face. What a great excuse to avoid uncomfortable human contact.