a NEW STUDY conducted at the University of Connecticut investigates the Deposition of Bacteria and Bacterial Spores by Bathroom Hot Air Hand Dryers.
Huesca-Espitia, L.C. et al. (2018).
Deposition of Bacteria and Bacterial Spores by Bathroom Hot Air Hand Dryers.
Appl. Environ. Microbiol. doi:10.1128/AEM.00044-18
A Short summary of the journal paper by Keith Redway
This study, conducted at the University of Connecticut, demonstrated that hand dryers in washrooms can deposit bacteria, including potential pathogens, on surfaces and the hands of users. It also showed that bacterial spores from one source can be dispersed to other rooms over large distances throughout a building.
The researchers sampled 36 washrooms on different floors in 3 buildings on the same site and found that when the hand dryers in them were switched off for 18 hours they isolated 6 bacterial colonies on average per exposed agar plate. However, when the hand dryers were switched on and agar plates exposed to the air from them for only 30 seconds, average bacterial counts increased to 18, 24 and 60 colonies per plate respectively in the 3 buildings, with a maximum colony count of 254.
Quote:
“This is yet another study highlighting that the method of hand drying should be carefully considered, especially in the control of infection in health-care settings. It complements the results of other studies that show that hand dryers and jet air dryers are likely to increase the risk of the transmission of not only bacteria but also fungi and viruses compared to other hand drying methods such as paper towels.”
Read more about Keith Redway’s comment at the page: https://europeantissue.com/hygiene/studies/university-connecticut-study-bacteria-spores-dispersion-hand-dryers/
