Why You Must Close Your Toilet Lid While Flushing? Video Shows How Far Invisible Germs Travel
One can never be too safe from pathogens. A team of engineers from the University of Colorado Boulder conducted an innovative experiment to study the spread of fecal pathogens in public toilets. The research from 2022 observes the path of minute water droplets invisible to the eye after a flush in the bathroom with the help of bright green lasers and strategically placed cameras. The observations were vividly captured and shared with the public in a YouTube video that showed a green “toilet plume” ejecting out and into the air from a lid-less public toilet prevalent in the North American regions.
While the setup was a special effort to explain the occurrence, it is worth noting that these aerosols pose a major health hazard and can travel longer distances than expected. “We had expected these aerosol particles would just sort of float up, but they came out like a rocket. Once you see these videos, you're never going to think about a toilet flush the same way again,” Professor John Crimaldi said. He headed the experiment study and also serves as the head of the Ecological Fluid Dynamics Lab at CU Boulder. The documented results of the study were later published in the journal Scientific Reports in December 2022. The exhibit from a public toilet was observed for the first time and was a big hit in the scientific community as it provided the “direct visualization” of a plume.
It was observed that some energetic particles moved in unpredictable directions, moving upwards to the ceiling or at the rear wall and blasting out into the larger area of the room. “The goal of the toilet is to effectively remove waste from the bowl, but it's also doing the opposite, which is spraying a lot of contents upwards,” Crimaldi said after explaining that the plume appeared to be much more energetic and unpredictable than previously understood. The motive behind the experiment was to encourage better disinfection and ventilation strategies and improved toilet and flush designs for the greater good of public health.
Professor Crimaldi pointed out that the study could potentially help plumbing and public health experts develop better insights and a “consistent” way to test out improved hardware designs that could mitigate infection and disease spread in public spaces. Netizens were taken aback by the plume behavior and shared their perspectives in the comments. Some pointed out that this was why they always put the lid down before flushing while others were left speechless and “paranoid.” However, they were grateful to be aware of it now and lauded the university for their research.
As is expected, the plume of water droplets emerging from fecal matter is a risk to health and such places become the breeding ground of life-threatening diseases. In another research published by the University of Oklahoma and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, it was found the plume exposes humans to pathogens like E. coli, C. difficile, noroviruses, and adenoviruses. These microorganisms can permeate through nose hair or filters and reach into the lungs. Hence, the need for lids in public restrooms was highlighted in this study. But closing the toilet lid doesn't promise complete prevention of germ spread. "This highlights the need for incorporating adequate ventilation in the design and operation of public spaces,” the latter study emphasized.