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UNIVERSITY OF LEEDS RESEARCH How Hygienic Are Electric Hand Dryers?
Regardless of design tweaks or technological upgrades, the hygiene challenge remains the same: drying hands with air dryers risks splattering and the inhalation of microbes.
New research from the University of Leeds shows that microbes can remain airborne for up to 30 minutes after using modern electric hand dryers. Overall, personal contamination was 100 to 1,000 times lower when paper hand towels were used instead.
Explore the data and see the visualisation.
Read the Study
Conducted by the Leeds Institute of Medical Research and Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, this study compares microbial spread from paper towels and electric dryers.
Watch the Visualisation
We've brought the microbial data to life - see how each drying method performs in real-world conditions.
Hygiene Starts - and Ends - at the Sink
Handwashing removes microbes, but how we dry our hands determines if they stay gone. The evidence is clear: paper towels remove residual moisture and microbes, while air dryers can spread them through the air and onto nearby surfaces and those close by.
By choosing paper towels in public washrooms, we all play a part in reducing the spread of microbes and protecting public health.