When paying a trip to the little girls room, many of us choose to use a hand dryer after washing as this seems like the most hygenic option.
However, the findings of a new study carried out at the University of Leeds have just changed everything.
As part of the research, volunteers coated their hands in paint and dried them with paper towels, a warm-air dryer and a jet dryer to visualize how droplets are dispersed.
The result from the hand and jet dryers showed that the paint had been blown all over the wall so the researchers then coated volunteers' hands in lactobacilli bacteria to simulate the dirty hands of someone who did not wash properly.
The investigators measured airborne bacteria levels and found higher amounts of germs around both types of dryers than around towel dispensers.
Jet-air dryers were found to be the worst offenders, with bacteria levels in the air nearby 4.5 times higher than around warm air dryers and 27 times higher than around paper towel dispensers.
It was also found that the bacteria stayed in the air around hand dryers, with 48 percent of the bacteria collected more than five minutes after use, and could still be detected 15 minutes after use.
"Next time you dry your hands in a public toilet using an electric hand dryer, you may be spreading bacteria without knowing it. You may also be splattered with bugs from other people's hands," said research team leader Mark Wilcox.
"These findings are important for understanding the ways in which bacteria spread, with the potential to transmit illness and disease."
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