Lowering the toilet seat is a health issue

In many homes, a fairly common reason for discussion is leaving the toilet lid up after having used it.. I do not have scientific data to corroborate this statement, but it is all about getting involved and doing the study.. But what we do have verifiable data on is the dangers of flushing the toilet with the lid up.. If you want to know more about the problems they can pose for your health, I invite you to continue reading.

Is there a study on this?

It's totally true. A group of American researchers from the University of Colorado set out to measure the impact of flushing the toilet with the toilet lid raised.. In reality, the idea was to know if the coronavirus could be transmitted by aerosols generated in bathrooms with contaminated feces.. To carry out the study they used two lasers, a toilet and measurement and analysis chambers.

What conclusions did they reach?

The results, published in the journal Nature, surprised even the researchers themselves.. They expected that when flushing the toilet, by the force of the water in the cistern, small drops of water would fly out and float around the bowl.. But what they found was that they were ejected with great force up to a height of 1.5 meters, and also traveling at speeds that exceeded two meters per second.

Why can it be dangerous?

The largest droplets, the ones we see with the naked eye, fall quickly and close to the toilet, but the small ones remain floating in the air for several minutes.. The problem is that these water droplets are contaminated with pathogens such as E-Coli, Clostridium difficile, norovirus or adenovirus, all of which come from our feces and urine.

Can we become contaminated with these pathogens?

These viruses and bacteria, which as we have seen remain floating in our bathroom for minutes, will end up stuck to the walls or the floor, but also to the towels, the faucets or even our toothbrush.

So do they stay stuck to the lid?

Correct. By lowering the lid we will not prevent the contaminated droplets from flying out, but they will remain stuck to the inside of the lid. It will be enough to properly clean and disinfect this surface frequently.

What can we do to avoid contamination?

The main thing is to lower the toilet lid before flushing, and if we have to use it again, wait a few minutes before lifting the lid again. Another interesting action would be to ventilate the bathroom as much as possible, either by opening a small window or using an air extraction system.

And in public bathrooms that don't have a lid?

There are many public bathrooms that do not have a lid to be able to lower it. In this case, and if there is no choice but to use them, the only thing we can do is leave the bathroom as soon as possible as soon as you flush the toilet.