(RNN) – Maybe instead of hand dyers, we should call them hot-air poop sprayers.
Sometimes billed as a healthier and neater alternative to paper towels, scientists say hand dyers collect and spew out bathroom bacteria.
The study appears in the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology.
“[T]here is evidence that bathroom hand dryers can disperse bacteria from hands or deposit bacteria on surfaces, including recently washed hands,” the study says.
High-traffic bathrooms are a particular concern.
“Bacteria in bathrooms will come from feces, which can be aerosolized a bit when toilets, especially lidless toilets, are flushed,” study author Peter Setlow told Newsweek.
From there, it can be sucked through hand dyers.
“[P]otentially pathogenic bacteria, including bacterial spores, may travel between rooms, and subsequent bacterial/spore deposition by hand dryers is a possible mechanism for spread of infectious bacteria, including spores of potential pathogens if present,” according to the study.
Perhaps we should just wipe our hands our pant legs.
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