A team of scientists, from the Department of Laboratory Medicine at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden, headed by Dr. Vitaly Smelov, tested clean public toilet seats for the presence of the human papillomavirus (HPV). The team found that 9 out of 10 seats had the virus that causes genital warts and cancer. According to the study, "Apparently clean seats in 23 airports located in 13 countries (Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Jordan, the Netherlands, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland, Spain and UK) were sampled with (an advanced DNA testing procedure). (The procedure) detected (HPV) DNA in 101/113 (89%) of samples." What makes these statistics even worse is the fact that the HPV virus can stay infectious for up to 7 days. "STI (sexually transmitted infection) particles deposited on environmental surfaces may stay temporarily infectious: … up to 7 days for HPV." (1)