Washing your hands after using a bathroom is always a good idea, but reaching for the hand dryer might not be as sanitary as you think.
A new study has found dryers are blasting our hands with poo particles, which linger in the air after a toilet is flushed with the lid up.
The report, published in Applied and Environmental Microbiology, studied bacterial colonies in 36 bathrooms at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine.
A plate sample of typical bathroom air sampled an average of less than one colony; however, a plate held underneath a hand dryer for 30 seconds had 18-60 colonies.
The study found the most likely cause of the bacteria was from inside the cubicles - quite literally poo particles - being blasted into the air when the toilets flush.
It is not clear whether the dryers are harbouring the bacteria inside, or pushing it out at a concentrated rate. The hand dryers tested did not have air quality filters.
Newshub.
