SCIENCE – You will necessarily think regarding it the next time you go to the little corner. Scientists from the university of colorado have just shown what happens when you flush the toilet… without lowering the toilet lid.
For this, they used very high power laser beams, positioned right in front of a toilet bowl, so as to illuminate from the bottom of the toilets to the ceiling. They then triggered the hunt remotely. The result is striking: the green light reveals a large plume of droplets and aerosols rising above the toilet.
« Although we expected to see these particles, we were still surprised by the force of the jet ejecting the particles from the bowl “says researcher John Crimaldi, co-author of the study in The Conversation. The aerosols are indeed projected at a speed of 2 meters per second according to the observations of the scientists.
The particles are expelled mainly in the direction of the ceiling and the rear wall. They then fall forward and into the rest of the room, as you can see in the video at the top of the article. Concretely, if your toilet is in your small bathroom, this means that the water from the bowl can end up on… The hairs of your toothbrush.
Covid, flu… Particles loaded with microbes
The most disgusting thing in history is not that thetoilet water finds itself suspended around us, but even though these particles are important carriers of pathogens. In other words, they are loaded with bacteria and viruses.
In fact, the smallest particles projected by the flush, those which remain suspended in the air for a certain time, can expose people to respiratory illnesses such as influenza and COVID-19 by inhalation. Previous studies have shown that the feces and urine may indeed contain viable COVID-19 viruses.
Larger aerosol particles, which settle quickly on surfaces, can spread intestinal diseases such as norovirus through contact with hands and mouth. And these viruses are persistent: even following a dozen flushes, the water in the bowl can still be contaminated.
At this time the study does not directly address how toilet plumes transmit viruses. Their work focuses on the projections of the particles and not their content, so more research is needed to understand this transmission phenomenon in detail.
To reduce exposure to toilet plumes, the researchers obviously suggest closing the lid before flushing. And for shopping center toilets where there is no toilet seat, ventilation or UV disinfection systems exist.
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