The hand dryer in the toilet “sprays” bacteria?

　　Many people use hand dryers after washing their hands in public places such as shopping malls and movie theaters, but experiments have shown that hand dryers can blow bacteria in the air to hands through strong winds.
　　Researchers at the University of Connecticut in the United States said that they placed petri dishes containing “bacterial food” in a bathroom without a hand dryer and found that only 6 pathogenic colonies grew within 18 hours, and after using the hand dryer to blow air for 30 seconds, Pathogen colonies number up to 254. They believe that due to the hand dryer’s ability to transmit bacterial spores, it is likely to transmit Clostridia, which causes watery diarrhea and produces severe dehydration. The study showed that most of the bacteria in the bathroom air comes from the process of water flushing the toilet, which aerosolizes microorganisms, including fecal particles, which can spread over an area of ​​about 6 square meters.
　　The results of the analysis showed that it was not the hand dryers that were full of bacteria, but that the hand dryers sprayed aerosols of bacteria from the bathroom onto people’s hands. When the hand dryer is working, it will absorb bacteria in the air in the bathroom, and these bacteria will be mixed in the wind blown by the hand dryer and sprayed on people’s freshly washed hands.
　　Although the laboratory scientists did not disclose the specific types of bacteria found, previous studies have shown that there are a large number of E. coli, hepatitis bacteria, fecal bacteria, streptococcus, salmonella, as well as influenza virus and norovirus lurking in public toilets.
　　Experts suggest that it may be more hygienic to dry your hands with paper towels or let them air dry after washing.