File this under “Studies I’d rather keep ignorant of.” Scientists at the University of Arizona decided to investigate whether closing the toilet lid before flushing reduces cross-contamination of bathroom surfaces with airborne bacteria and virus particles.toilet plumeThe bad news, they report, is that putting a lid on doesn’t substantially reduce contamination. recent papers Published in the American Journal of Infection Control. Good news: Adding disinfectant to the toilet bowl before flushing and using a disinfectant dispenser in the tank greatly reduces cross-contamination.
When we talk about toilet drips, we’re not just talking about the big droplets that fly out when you flush the toilet. Smaller droplets can also form and spread into the surrounding air, carrying germs such as: Escherichia coli A virus (such as norovirus) if the infected person has used the toilet before. Pathogens remain in the bowl even after multiple flushes, just waiting for an opportunity to jump into the air and spread the disease. That’s because particularly large droplets can settle on surfaces before drying, while smaller droplets travel farther on natural air currents.
The first experiments to determine whether toilet spray contained pollution particles were conducted in the 1950s, and the idea that disease could be spread in this way was widespread. 1975 study. In 2022, physicists and engineers at the University of Colorado Boulder. visualize Toilet plume of small airborne particles expelled from the toilet during flushing using a combination of green laser and camera. Very vivid video footage was created.
“If you can’t see it, it’s easy to say it doesn’t exist,” said study co-author John Grimaldi. said at the time. They found that the airborne particles released could travel at up to 6.6 feet per second and reach a height of 4.9 feet above the toilet within eight seconds. And if those particles are small (less than 5 microns), they can float in the air for more than a minute.
More relevant to this latest paper: was suggested Closing the lid before flushing can significantly reduce the spread of airborne contaminants. for example, in 2019Researchers from University College Cork deployed bioaerosol sensors in public toilets for a week to monitor the number and size of pollution particles. They concluded that lowering the toilet lid and flushing reduces airborne droplets by 30 to 60 percent. However, droplet diameter and bacterial concentration also increased in this scenario. Leaving the lid down also means that airborne microdroplets can be detected for up to 16 minutes after washing. This is 11 minutes longer than washing with the lid on top.