Read this before your next flight—and consider dousing yourself in Purell
Our stuff gets super gross when we travel. After all, we roll our suitcases right into the restroom (ick) and stuff our jackets in those grimy security bins. But even if you’re militant about avoiding germs and know what’s nasty on airplanes, you might be overlooking one item that’s a lot gunkier than you’d think.
An eye-opening new study is shedding light on a common travel item that’s brimming with hidden bacteria. Here’s a hint: It’s something you tote on almost every trip … but would never think to clean. Yet somehow, it has way more bacteria than the travel gear you’d expect to get filthy.
What’s the top bacteria magnet, according to the new report? And how big a worry is it, really? To understand the risk and how to protect ourselves, we talked to microbiologist Jason Tetro—known professionally as The Germ Guy—and epidemiologist Brian Labus, an associate professor of public health at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Read on to find out and keep those travel germs at bay.
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What travel must-have contains tons of germs?
Surprise: It’s your passport! That’s the unexpected result of a 2026 study commissioned by JRPass, a Japan Rail Pass provider. The company tested the bacterial counts for common things we tote on our trips … and bring home with us. Passports were the germiest, with 436 colony-forming units (CFUs).
To arrive at these findings, the company teamed up with a microbiologist, who swabbed travel essentials, including passports, carry-on bags, checked bags, shoes, coats and phones. They tested three of each item and sampled multiple surfaces to get reliable results. Next, the samples went in a nutrient agar (a food gel for growing bacteria and fungi) and into an incubator for eight days before counting the CFUs. With its 436 CFUs, the passport was seven times germier than shoes. Yes, you read that right!
Why are passports so germy?
Basically, passports get around. They pick up tons of germs, thanks to all the hands and surfaces they come into contact with. Airports and airplanes are high-touch places, in general, and “passports can be handled by a lot of different people during travel who can leave whatever is on their hands all over the passport,” Labus says.
It doesn’t help that their “tear-resistant paper acts like a hard surface and allows more bacteria to aggregate on the pages and cover,” Tetro notes.
What types of germs are on passports and other travel gear?
While the JBPass study didn’t determine what types of bacteria were on the passports, Tetro says that anything that comes into contact with many hands likely harbors normal human skin bacteria, as well as microbes from saliva and fecal matter. He mentions Staphylococcus, E. coli, Corynebacterium, Klebsiella and Streptococcus are common bacteria found on travel items. There’s even a chance opportunistic (read: extra bad) pathogens, such as Acinetobacter baumanii, Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae, may be hitching a ride on your passport.
A more likely risk? You’ll get exposed to a virus like flu, COVID-19 or norovirus. “If you find human bacteria, you’ll probably find human viruses as well,” Tetro notes. Previous research has shown that surfaces in airports carry common cold and flu viruses and possibly others, like SARS-CoV-2. “They can stick to your passport and get onto your hands or in your mouth, leading to a risk for infection,” he adds.
Why are passports dirtier than shoes? How is that even possible?!
It’s hard to believe the shoes we walk into public restrooms with are actually cleaner than the important ID we carefully tuck in our totes, but it’s true. While our sneaks and Birks pick up all kinds of bacteria, they don’t actually hang onto much of it. “Shoes are continually transferring microbes without actually aggregating them,” Tetro explains. “Even when exposed to high amounts of bacteria, they tend to hold only about 1%. So it would make sense that they would have fewer microbes than a passport.”
How do passports compare with other trip items?
The JRPass report broke down the bacterial load of passports versus everything else they tested. Here’s how that little book that holds the world’s worst photo of you stacks up against some other travel gear:
- Passport: 436 CFUs
- Checked luggage: 97 CFUs
- Shoes: 65 CFUs
- Carry-on bag: 56 CFUs
- Phone: 45 CFUs
- Coat: 15 CFUs
Before you take industrial-strength bleach to your passport, though, know that plane tray tables are far germier, with more than 2,000 CFUs per square inch. Still, there’s a problem with both items: bacteria transfer straight to your mouth.
So can you get sick from the bacteria on passports?
Sure, you could come down with something like a respiratory or skin infection from bacteria on your passport. But the risk isn’t as great as you’d think, Labus stresses. “The world is covered in bacteria,” he says, “but the vast majority of those bacteria won’t make you sick.”
Rather than getting overly stressed that the gate agent just contaminated your passport (and ruined your trip), just make a habit of frequently washing your hands when on the road. “Soap and water is the best way to do it,” Labus says, “but alcohol-based hand sanitizers also can be effective against many pathogens.”
Is there any way to prevent a dirty passport?
“We touch our faces about 16 times an hour when relaxed and more when nervous,” Tetro notes. This means that whatever is in our hands will likely touch our faces and could end up in one of our portals of entry. He recommends keeping your passport in a separate sealable bag when traveling. Then, when you’ve (finally!) made it through customs, play it safe and wipe the document. “Because passports are made with that tear-resistant paper, it’s easy to disinfect them with a wipe,” he says. “Just make sure that you let it dry fully before you go about your business.”
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Sources:
- Jason Tetro, microbiologist, author of The Germ Code and The Germ Files, and host of the Super Awesome Science Show podcast; email interview, March 19, 2026
- Brian Labus, PhD, MPH, associate professor of epidemiology and biostatistics in the School of Public Health at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas; email interview, March 18, 2026
- JRPass: “Your Passport Is the Dirtiest Thing You Bring Home from Holiday”
