Are bathroom hand dryers really unsanitary?
August 30, 2007 9:37 AM   Subscribe

Are bathroom hand dryers REALLY unsanitary? A co-worker claims she doesn't use them because they blow contaminated air on your hands. I'm not finding a lot of evidence online. I'm specifically interested in scientific proof or a scientific argument either way.
posted by anonymous to Health & Fitness (12 answers total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
Contaminated air? As in, the same bathroom air you're breathing and moving through when in said bathroom? Your coworker is a freak. No science required.

/known to eat cookies off the floor
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 9:41 AM on August 30, 2007 [2 favorites]


I heard something about this on talk radio a couple of years ago, and therefore feel competent enough to answer this question.

The jury is out. Paper towel dispensers, which you have to touch, are home to harmful E. Coli and Staph bacteria. Hot air dryers spread all sorts of harmful gunk around the washroom as an aerosol.

Luckily, one company has set out to change all that (the article includes some interesting stats, and some amusing sales-y writing):

http://www.forbes.com/prnewswire/feeds/prnewswire/2007/06/26/prnewswire200706260600PR_NEWS_B_MAT_NY_NYTU012.html
posted by KokuRyu at 9:44 AM on August 30, 2007


I'd have to agree that your co-worker is nutso-cuckoo. The air is being sucked in from either the bathroom itself, or from an outside area, served by a duct. (More likely from within the bathroom.) The act of blowing it through the dryer would not make the air any more dangerous.

Touching the buttom to start the dryer? That does expose you to germs. That's why new ones are sensor-driven.

Now the old-fashioned cloth towel on a recirculating roll? That's just gross.
posted by Futurehouse at 9:46 AM on August 30, 2007


I think that the reason that you're not finding a lot on this is that its, uh, crazy talk.

Why does she think that the air is contaminated?
posted by desuetude at 9:49 AM on August 30, 2007


Comrade robot, a critical-care facility, by definition, is populated by immuno-compromised patients and medical personnel who have been exposed to infectious disease. This isn't analogous to a garden-variety public washroom.
posted by desuetude at 9:56 AM on August 30, 2007


Waving your hands under the blower isn't going to contaminate them -- but wiping them on your pants to actually get them dry probably will.
posted by ottereroticist at 10:06 AM on August 30, 2007


Along with the hotel bedspread analogy...do you ever think about the filth trapped in the holes of bowling balls? It's not like they're ever cleaned out. Not that anybody ever goes bowling anymore. I guess I just don't see much point of washing your hands at a bowling alley (but I do it anyway).

As far as bathrooms, I started a habit of dispensing a few sheets of paper towels BEFORE I wash my hands. When I'm done washing, I rip the hanging paper off (I don't have to touch the dirty dispenser knob with my bare hands) and dry my hands, and then wipe off the knob quickly (for the next person) and throw the paper towels away. Every once in a while there's some jackass who comes up and takes the paper towels I've so carefully rolled out for myself, but that's usually more amusing than annoying.

I personally hate the hand air blowers cause they're loud. So jarring after you've had a peaceful unburdening. Maybe your friend just doesn't like them for a variety of reasons, with the contaminated air theory sounding the most cogent.
posted by iamkimiam at 10:08 AM on August 30, 2007


Mod note: a few comments removed - this is not a referendum about germs, it's a pretty specific questin about bathroom hand dryers
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 12:25 PM on August 30, 2007


The Dyson Airblade may be the answer to your unsanitary and damp hands.
posted by arcticseal at 3:10 PM on August 30, 2007


#6 on this ppage says "Studies have shown that restroom automatic dryers inhibit the growth of bacteria on the skin by drying the skin more effectively than paper towels." I've also heard/read this. Unfortunately, I can't find the actual studies so far...
posted by edjusted at 4:54 PM on August 30, 2007


um...that should've read "page", not "ppage"
posted by edjusted at 4:54 PM on August 30, 2007


Have any of you guys actually gotten down and looked UP at a hand dryer? Lots of nasty gunk builds up there. IANAPHDI (professional hand drier inspector) but I think it's pretty plausible that some of that gunk could contain bacteria or fungus. Most hand driers don't seem to get hot enough to effectively kill much, but certainly warm enough to provide a nice breeding ground. They're also, as pointed out, sucking in the air around you, which being in a bathroom probably contains something--and then providing a place for that something to grow, so that instead of a tiny amount of something it is now a lot of something.

My preferred method of hand drying is the motion activated paper towel dispenser.
posted by anaelith at 6:14 PM on August 30, 2007


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