Dr. Kelly Reynolds, a microbiologist at the University of Arizona, who along with a handful of co-researchers recently authored a study entitled Occurance of Bodily Fluid Contamination on Commonly Contacted Public Surfaces and the Potential for Transfer to the Domestic Environment, was quoted as saying that, "Yes, shopping carts were in the top five (worst offenders) in our study." In Kelly's study, wherein some 800-plus public surfaces were sampled across three cities (Tucson, Chicago, and San Francisco), the public telephone placed a distant ninth in the revulsion rankings. Playground equipment at the daycare center was the worst offender, which is not surprising given all those damp little children running around. Rails and armrests on public transportation systems placed second. And shopping cart handles came third, handily eclipsing vending-machine buttons (5th), escalator handrails (6th), and even the surfaces in your average public restroom (7th).

As it happens, some 21% of shopping cart handle samples tested positive for some sort of bodily fluid, like blood, saliva, mucus, or urine.

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