Do you put the toilet seat down before you flush?
Flushing the toilet can produce a plume of vapour that travels faster than 2 metres per second (6.6 feet) and reaches a height of 1.5 metres within 8 seconds. This can spread small droplets of water, urine, faeces and potentially harmful bacteria — such as E.coli, Staphylococcus and Campylobacter — to all surfaces and objects within range — including your toothbrush. Yikes!
To reduce the spread of infection in a South Korean hospital, scientists developed a toilet-flushing device that only worked when the lid was closed. The device more than halved the number of bacteria floating around the bathroom, but it had no effect on the spread of viruses — probably because viruses are much smaller than bacteria and can escape around the edges of the lid.
While many viral infections are asymptomatic (ie they do not produce any symptoms), if a household member has acute viral gastroenteritis such as that caused by norovirus, the most effective way to reduce contamination of the bathroom is to add a disinfectant to the toilet tank and toilet bowl prior to flushing. This is particularly important if a household member is immunocompromised.
While I don’t believe in over-sanitation because many bacteria are in fact good for our immune health, the wrong bacteria in the wrong place can cause disease. To that end, I choose to put the toilet seat down before flushing.
Please share this Health-e-Byte with anyone who uses a toilet.
