text: can you really catch any nasty diseases from sitting on a toilet seat? there are so many myths about this. if you can, what will you catch? it's highly unlikely. the seat part of the toilet is usually very clean, and tests have shown that per square centimetre, your office desk has 50 times more bacteria than a toilet seat. in fact, you probably have more germs in your kitchen sink.  also, if you think about it, normally only the backs of people's legs touch a toilet seat, and it's not very easy to transmit disease that way.