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Every time you flush the toilet,
an invisible cloud of bacteria is projected out of the bowl to contaminate
nearby surfaces.
Here is a little-known fact:
Every time you flush the toilet, an invisible cloud of dirty water and fecal
bacteria is projected out of the bowl to land on every exposed nearby surface. This includes the toilet seat,
toilet paper, seat covers, handles and restroom floor up to an area of eight
feet out.
Not alarmed yet? This spread of
bacteria can survive for up to 24 hours and cover the entire washroom in less
than a minute.
This aerosol spray of bacteria
all over the washroom with every flush was documented in a study by Dr Charles
Gerba, and is known as the "Sneeze Effect."
The study found that large
numbers of bacteria and viruses remain in the toilet bowl even after persistent
flushing, due to the gradual absorption of micro-organisms into the porcelain surfaces
of the bowl with each flush.
This results in a build-up of
bacteria and viruses with regular usage, and the droplets produced subsequently
by the flushing of toilets harbour these harmful bacteria and contaminate the
surrounding area.
The detected to fall out onto
restroom surfaces indicates they remain airborne long enough to settle on
surfaces throughout the bathroom. Hence, there is a very real possibility that
a person may acquire an infection from the aerosol produced by a toilet.
Germ hot-spots
Washrooms can contain harmful
bacteria such as Salmonella, which can cause food poisoning; Streptococcus,
which can cause throat infections; and Escherichia Coli, which is known to
cause abdominal pain and diarrhea.
Other commonly found bacteria include
Hepatitis A and common cold and flu germs.
These bacteria can be found on
the major 'hots-pots' of any washroom: toilet seats, walls, flush handles,
taps, wash basins and door knobs.
The average person visits the
toilet at least 3 times a day - that is about 1,200 times exposure to
cross-contamination per year and thus potentially risk falling sick.
For public washrooms with heavy
traffic, there is an increased risk of spreading unwanted viruses among the
population.
Reduce
the hygiene risks in your washroom
Washroom hygiene requires round
the clock sanitation that can effectively prevent the spread of harmful
bacteria.
Washrooms that are not sanitised
properly become cross-contamination hot-spots that will quicken the spread of
illness.
Read on below for pointers to how
to keep your restroom germ-free.
Cubicle Hygiene
Invest in cubicle hygiene
products such as toilet seat cleaners and surface sanitisers. Alcohol wipes and
disinfectants work well, or simply use hot water and bleach.
Feminine Care
Ensure that you have a proper
system in place for the disposal of feminine and nappy waste.
Floor Care
Protect the flooring with mats
which can trap and retain dirt entering the washroom, as well as reducing
slipping accidents.
Hand Hygiene
Bacteria often spreads into
unwanted areas simply because people aren't washing their hands. After going to
the loo, reduce the spread of disease and illness by engaging in some good hand
hygiene.
Hand Dryers
Think of what the hand-dryer does, it sucks in air from the surrounding and blows it through a filter and onto your hands to dry it. Sure there is a warmer to warm the air, so that it drys your hands.
Now think about where the warmer has been positioned, in the washroom itself. You have to remember that water (aka water mixed with urine) will evaporate into the air in a washroom. How else do you think the washrooms dry?
Now all this evaporate is circulating the air in the washroom. When you activate the dryer, the evaporate gets sucked into the hand-dryer and blown onto your hands.
If you remove the filters from the hand-dryers, they are yellow. Why do you think they are yellow? Now think about that yellow filter, filtering air that blows onto your hands to dry it.
Avoid using hand-dryers at all cost, and stick to a few pieces of paper towel to dry your hands.
Disgusting enough?
