Three out of four Americans do have cell phones. But new research from Britain has found that they could be well breeding grounds for germs and ABC's Heather Nauert right here with us back from the news desk this morning. I gotta tell you, I'm gonna be making calls, like this: hello, can you hear me now?

Totally speaker phone.

Ohh!

This is a gross one. Of course we all expect certain places where we would find germs and bacteria, in kitchens and bathrooms, for instance. But now we learn that when you put your cell phone up to your ear, you may be getting a lot more than a ringtone.

Hello mom.

We've seen George Bush chat away, not to mention Paris Hilton and don't forget Maxwell Smart, the secret agent who used a shoe for a phone. It may sound like a dirty proposition, but actually his shoe phone could be cleaner than your cell phone.

That's disgusting.

What do you think is dirtier, the sole of your shoe, a doorknob, or a toilet seat, or your cell phone?

Definitely, toilet seat.

Actually he is wrong, your cell phone is filthier.

So what's your reaction when I tell you that?

Er, a little disturbing, I think I'm gonna be, er, doing a little more of this.

New research out of the UK found mobile phones are technological Petri dish for tens of thousands of germs. Germs multiply in warm places. Between the heat the phones generate and the germs on your face and hands, you've got a breeding ground.

You put it in a warm place, you hold it in your hand, you put it in your pocket like I have to do, it's nice and warm. Bacteria like that. They can grow under those conditions.

Believe it or not, the filthiest phones can spread the dreaded staph bacteria which can cause everything from skin infections to meningitis. And where do these germs come from? Your hands and face.

Usually right down here, coz the mouth comes here in this area too, and so you usually find more there.

Microbiologist Chuck Gerba recently tested 25 mobile phones and found the staph bug growing on nearly half. So we brought some of our own phones in for testing, the results were shocking, especially the one from our soundman.

Sony has the dirtiest phone I have ever tested. He has somewhere between 10 and 15 million bacteria on, on this phone. If there's ever a new life form that's gonna evolve on this planet, it's gonna be on your phone.

If you're worried about germs roaming on your cell, Motorola has come up with a clever tactic. Some of their phones have an anti-microbial coating, which prevents bacteria from growing, in the meantime, keep your phone to yourself.

You're not only sharing the phone, you're sharing germs at the same time. So, anything that becomes mobile you take with you or you share with other people is a way germs get move from one person to another.

So everybody wants to know what on earth do you do to keep this clean, they just say take this anti-mi..er, this wipes, wipe it off , (Antimicrobial) that's the best you can do. As for this new Motorola phone that comes out, we can't verify that the technology actually works. But the company says it does.

All right, so it doesn't it hurt your phone to do this?

It doesn't hurt your phone, but if you spray it, of course, with a Windex or something,(Oh, yeah) you are gonna ruin your phone.

It can get into the little holes. /You can get the little hopes
Okay, thank you...

I mean, you think about it, nobody really ever cleans their phones, so…

No, no one would ever do it.

No? We have one more thing to worry about.

Okay, thanks, Heather, I think...