Hand dryers spread bathroom bacteria: That means poop - WLOX.com - The News for South Mississippi

(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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