You might not want to use bathroom hand dryers ever again after reading what a newly done study has found about this machine which is designed to dry your wet hands. A microbial study done by University of Connecticut has found that the hand dryers in public restrooms suck up the particles of fecal matter and sprays it around whenever it is operated.
The research conducted states that the air blowing out from the hand dryers is far more bacterial than the normal air in the bathroom. It makes a horrifying claim that blowing your hand for 30 seconds in the hand dryer may cover your hand with 60 different bacterial colonies.
The study has its solid research and experiments done at the University of Connecticut; examining 36 bathrooms and collecting samples from each hand dryer for laboratory testing. It shocked the researchers when they found an eminent amount of a dangerous bacteria called staphylococcus aureus which was sometimes linked to causing serious infections in humans.
However, researchers also admit that they are not %100 sure that the bacteria found were actually emitting from the hand dryers or there could be other sources involved, as the amount of bacteria were way lesser when the machines is not operated. So the idea derived was that the hand dryers are infested with infectious microbes from its surroundings and blast it out in a greater number when the machine is being used.
Now the question arises is that why is there bacteria in the air of the washrooms? The answer hides inside the toilet seat. There’s a reason why it is being said to always close the lid of your toilet seat before flushing. This is because whenever a toilet is flushed, it discharges particles of your or someone else’s feces in the air, polluting it with the airborne poop bacteria. And it is more dangerous in public restrooms as you don’t know the people using washrooms and their health conditions.
Just the idea of the dangerous bacteria travelling from the feces of an unhealthy person into the air and then spreading around is a complete horror. According to the study, the only solution to prevent such thing from happening is installing HEPA filters in every hand dryer. Only then the hand dryer would be save to use.