Hand dryers full of bacteria? A TikTokeur conducted his own experiment to demonstrate this, using Petri dishes.
- The hand dryer is the least hygienic method compared to hand shaking or paper towels.
- Jet air and hot air dryers lead to increased airborne spread of bacteria when drying hands.
Is it cleaner to shake your hands out in the air to dry them or to use an electric hand dryer? The American TikTokeur Lucas Dallin asked himself the question and answered it with his own experience.
Equipped with protective gloves, he tried with a Petri dish the hand dryers available in different places: public toilets, gas station, cinema, store… At the same time, he simulated drying in the open air by shaking his Petri dish in the same places. He then left his samples in an incubator to observe the growth of the germs.
The hand dryer is less hygienic
Three days later, the result is without appeal to the image. Every sample from the air blast from the hand dryers is covered in whitish stains, the worst being that of the public restrooms.
In contrast, Petri dishes subjected to air-drying show no trace of contamination. In 2018, a student had already carried out this experiment with the same result. The hand dryer therefore turns out to be the least hygienic method, compared to hand shaking or paper towels.
@goodlife_msk #housekeeping #goodthings #homeasmr #foryou ♬ original sound – msk
A fact already known
In fact, after washing your hands, germs can potentially remain on your fingers, under your fingernails. And when we dry them under this type of device, we will then spray all these microbes in the air, especially towards the face, at the risk of inhaling them. However, with drying in the open air, there is no airborne contamination. And the fact of wiping his hands with a towel – clean – constitutes a mechanical action which makes it possible to rid them of possible bacteria still present.
This air contamination had already been proven by certain studies. As that of the University of Leeds in 2014, which demonstrated that jet-air and hot-air dryers lead to increased airborne spread of bacteria when drying hands. In particular, the study suggests that air dryers may be unsuitable for use in healthcare facilities, as they may facilitate aerosol bacterial contamination.
