Nobody likes to use a public restroom. No matter how clean the toilet seems, you wonder who was sitting in front of you. Whether you are squatting, standing, sitting or putting on a paper toilet seat cover, there is always a risk of coming into contact with germs that make you sick. Now, a new study has found that doing this one thing after using a toilet or urinal will make you more prone to contact with potentially contaminated aerosol particles, which is especially concerning thanks to COVID. Read on to find out what to avoid after flushing and more things to watch out for in the bathroom for your health, see If your urine is this color, talk to your doctor.
A new study from Florida Atlantic University’s (FAU) College of Engineering and Computer Science found that you shouldn’t linger after flushing a toilet or urinal, because spray drops do. Flushing a toilet can generate large amounts of micro-retaining aerosols, according to the study, which was published in Physics of liquids on April 20. The study authors found that aerosol levels sprayed through flushes in public restrooms “make them hotbeds for airborne disease transmission, especially if they don’t have adequate ventilation or toilets don’t have a lid or lid” – which is what most public toilets and all urinals are not.
Study co-author Siddhartha Verma, PhD, an assistant professor in FAU’s division of Ocean and Mechanical Engineering, said in a statement that the total number of droplets generated by flushing a toilet ranges in the tens of thousands.
And for more information about the area around your home you should not have to disinfect, watch the CDC says you should never disinfect this one thing.
You might think that closing the toilet lid can help prevent the spread of germs, but because aerosol droplets are so small, the FAU researchers found it doesn’t matter much.
The toilet and urinal both produced significant amounts of tiny droplets, which were detected at heights of up to five feet for 20 seconds or more after the flush started. Smaller droplets can linger in the air longer, meaning these particles pose a significant risk if they contain infectious microorganisms, Verma said. Although there was a smaller number of droplets in the air when the toilet was flushed with the lid closed, the reduction was not so significant because the small atomized droplets can easily escape through the small gaps between the lid and the seat.
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Considering how many people use public restrooms and how rarely some of them are cleaned, it’s no surprise that they are at risk of contracting illness. According to the study, “when widely distributed through aerosolization, pathogens can cause Ebola, norovirus that leads to violent food poisoning, as well as COVID-19 caused by SARS-CoV-2.”
A previous study published in 2013 in the American Journal of Infection Control also noted the risk of transmission of infectious diseases from flushing a toilet. Those researchers at the University of Oklahoma College of Public Health pointed out that many pathogens, including “Shigella, E. coli, C difficile, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), coronavirus, and norovirus, can survive on surfaces for weeks or even months.”
And for more information on how COVID spreads, says Dr. Fauci, this is how to catch COVID even if you’ve been vaccinated, even if you’ve gotten your shots.
These atomized droplets are especially important when COVID is circulating. While respiratory droplet transmission is the most common form of COVID transmission, “alternative routes may exist given the discovery of small numbers of viable viruses in urine and stool samples,” said the FAU researchers. “Public toilets are of particular concern when broadcasting COVID-19 because they are relatively limited, have a lot of foot traffic and may not have adequate ventilation.”
That last element makes public toilets really risky. “The significant build-up of aerosol-generated droplets from the flushing water over time suggests that the ventilation system was ineffective in removing them from the enclosed space, although there was no discernible lack of airflow in the toilet,” said co- author of the study. Masoud Jahandar Lashaki, PhD, an assistant professor in FAU’s Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatics Engineering, said in a statement.
The study’s findings suggest that including better ventilation in public areas may help prevent aerosol build-up. But in the meantime, if you use a public restroom during COVID, make sure to wear your mask.
To see what people who get COVID after vaccination have in common, check out 65 percent of vaccinated people who get COVID have it in common, CDC says.