Melody Teh
Body

This is the most hygienic way to dry hands in public restroom

A study looking at different methods of hand-drying in public restrooms has found that single-use paper towels are the most hygienic option, while electric hand dryers spread bacteria around the room.

More traditional hand dryers (where you push a button or wave your hands under a sensor to get it going) spray microbes at a level of around 0.9m from the floor, which is a worrying figure when you consider the height of children using the devices.

Newer air jet dryers, which are modern and sleek in appearance, and dry hands in seconds, can spray liquid and bacteria up to 1.5m around the room. With organisms such as salmonella and E. coli potentially on people’s hands, the findings are worrying.

Dr Keith Redway, the lead researcher on the study, stated that, “cross contamination in public washrooms is a legitimate public health concern.”

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Tags:
hygiene, health, wellbeing, News, toilet