An Important Bathroom Habit You Must Follow
Flushing without closing the toilet lid can release aerosol plumes up to 5 feet high, lingering for 11-16 minutes, spreading harmful germs. Close the lid to prevent infection.
It’s no secret that bathrooms are a den of germs. Luckily, not all places in the bathroom are the same. But one of the most common breeding areas for germs is the toilet, especially when it’s flushed. According to a research conducted by USA’s National Center for Biotechnology Information & PubMed Central, each time a toilet is flushed, a fine aerosol plume (a long cloud consisting of fine solid or liquid particles in gas) containing microscopic particles full of harmful germs from the human waste is thrown upwards. The aerosol plumes can rise up to the height of 5 feet and last in the air for 11-16 minutes. This happens because our toilets are designed to clean everything off with force when flushed. While the flushing system is designed to push the contents of the bowl forcefully into the drainpipe through a downward motion, the high pressure generated during the flush cycle creates a spray of invisible fecal and urine particles that is forced in the air around the toilet bowl. The harmful germs from aerosol plumes can contaminate toothbrushes, toothpaste, towels, soap, taps, shaving razors etc, and can even land on our face and settle on our skin. As a result, the chances of other family members getting stomach infection/bowel infections are high when one person in the family has it. While there are many scientific and technological ways like ventilation & UV disinfection systems to counter this, most of them aren’t widely used and not easily available. Therefore, the best way to avoid aerosol plume spreading germs is shutting off the toilet lid while flushing it. In a recent study conducted by Harpic in the United Kingdoms, it was revealed that more than 55% of people do not shut the lid of their toilets while flushing. When asked for the reason, more than 47% of people claimed to be unaware about the harmful consequences of not closing the toilet lid. But you are now aware! Hence, you must make a conscious effort to close the toilet lid every time before flushing as it would be a good habit to get into and save you and your family from many infections and harmful germs.
