Hygiene experts have long known that hand dryers aren't that hygienic, but if you didn't, a warning: what comes below may scare you enough to never use them again.
A US woman took to Facebook to share an image of the micro-organisms that originated from the air dispensed by a hand dryer in a public bathroom.
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Nichole Ward's photo shows a petri dish filled with bacteria and fungi of different colours and forms, and is captioned with a word of advice: "DO NOT EVER dry your hands in those things again."
"This here, is what grew in a petri dish after just a few days. I stuck the open plate in an enclosed hand dryer of a public bathroom for a total of three minutes. Yes three only," she wrote.
"This is the several strains of possible pathogenic fungi and bacteria that you're swirling around your hands, and you think you're walking out with clean hands. You're welcome."
The post has garnered more than 150,000 reactions and nearly 600,000 shares since it was originally posted to Facebook a fortnight ago.
Ms Ward insists her post was intended to raise awareness, "not to instil fear".
A 2014 Leeds University study found jet hand dryers were 27 times less hygienic than using paper towels. More old-fashioned hand dryers are nearly six times less hygienic.
Newshub.
