A STUDY has finally revealed whether or not we should all be keeping the toilet lid up or down when we flush.
The shocking answer could be set to change the way we look at our bathrooms and drastically affect our usual toilet habits forever.
GettyScientists at the University of Arizona have revealed whether you should leave your toilet seat up or not[/caption]
YouTube/@ University of Colorado BoulderOther studies show just how many pathogens fly through the air when you flush the toilet[/caption]
Scientists at the University of Arizona set about on their mission of discovering if closing the toilet lid before you flush can reduce any cross-contamination in the bathroom.
The toilet is a hotbed for airborne bacteria and viral particles through so called toilet plumes – microscopic particles that fly through the air when a toilet is flushed.
And experts have long claimed closing the toilet seat can help protect users.
But now they’ve found there isn’t any evidence closing the lid reduces the plumes and any contamination from spreading.
The paper’s findings were published in the American Journal of Infection Control but they did reveal something fascinating.
Adding a disinfectant such as a toilet bowl cleaner or a Rim Block to the toilet bowl before you flush can significantly reduce any cross contamination.
A study by the University of Colorado Boulder also showed just how dirty toilets can get when they are flushed.
Experts shined a bright green laser onto the air above the bowl to reveal just how many pathogens make their way out of a toilet on each flush.
Toilet plumes can spread through the air in your bathroom and can potentially carry dangerous bacteria like E. coli or viruses like norovirus if they’re carried by a person.
Pathogens are known to last for multiple flushes on the toilet bowl as they plan their desperate launch into the air to spread diseases.
HOW BAD ARE TOILET PLUMES?
WHILE you may feel queasy about the cleanliness of your toilet, air, and everything in your bathroom, there are conflicting reports about how harmful toilet plumes actually are.
Richard Watkins, M.D., an infectious disease physician and associate professor of internal medicine at Northeast Ohio Medical University, told SELF that there has been little evidence that the sprayed fecal matter has negative effects on people’s health.
“Whether toilet plume makes people sick is controversial and not conclusively proven,” he noted.
However, The Massachusetts Institute of Technology said there is a reason to worry.
In an article referencing epidemiologic studies that had been conducted prior to June 2020, the MIT medical team wrote the research “found evidence implicating toilet plumes in disease outbreaks on cruise ships, in restaurants, on airplanes, and within apartment complexes.”
They added: “Virtually all of these cases involved pathogens that are both highly concentrated in feces or vomit and able to survive on surfaces for a relatively long time — like the norovirus, which is not only copiously excreted in feces and vomit but also able to survive for weeks on hard surfaces and resistant to some common cleaning agents.”
So your toilet at home might be okay in terms of the plumes but be careful about using public toilets – especially those that don’t have lids.
Katy Kremer, who describes herself as “your cleaning lady”, previously tested out the toilet seat theory and found some shocking results.
She shared pictures from a study that used black light to show toilet water spraying out of the toilet and over the seat after being flushed.
Kremer said: “So this means the water is probably on your toilet paper, definitely on your bathmat, and probably on your toothbrush.”
She admitted she thought the findings were “pretty terrifying”.
This blockbuster announcement comes after a huge cleaning fanatic claimed that millions of us have been using our toilet fresheners wrong for years.
As it turns out toilet fresheners are not supposed to be hung over the basin of your toilet.
They’re not even supposed to be on the side.
Cleaners at Little Clean Co shared the correct way to use them in a TikTok video online.
With many people now learning that there is actually a specific location at the back of your toilet which is meant to hold a toilet freshener.
The cleaning fan said: “They’re specifically designed so that they go into the little holes the water comes out when you flush.”
It was also revealed that disgustingly high levels of bacteria have been found lurking in flood water from UK rivers – in some cases posing a risk of human life.
Flood water samples collected from parts of the country showed concerning amounts of E.coli and clostridia bacteria, as well as ammonia.
Experts warned that river water contaminated with “disgusting filth and germs” could put endanger people’s lives and cause nasty infections.