ECJ EUROPEAN Cleaning Journal

Are you one of those people who always grabs a paper liner before sitting down on the toilet? If so, you're probably doing it to avoid catching a disease from someone else's 'splashes' that may be left on the seat.

Well, you germophobes will be disappointed to know that those liners may have more to do with providing comfort and reassurance to the user than actually doing anything to prevent disease. That's according to infectious disease specialist Dr William Schaffner, a professor of preventive medicine at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

"That's because toilet seats are not a vehicle for the transmission of any infectious agents - you won't catch anything," explained Schaffner to HuffPost.

Basically, the reason why those liners exist is because of toilets' inherent "ick" factor, he says.

That's not to say that there aren't disease-causing bacteria - such as E.coli and streptococcous - on a toilet seat. But as Dr Philip Tierno pointed out to Everyday Health, the skin on our behinds serves as an effective, protective barrier.

What does help to impact on the spread of gastrointestinal illness is good old-fashioned hand washing.