#aerosols — Public Fediverse posts

What’s in a Flush?

Flushing a toilet produces a cloud of tiny, inhaleable aerosol droplets, as we’ve seen before. When the flush includes pathogens, those droplets can become seeds for infection. A new study tries to synthesize the literature on this health threat.

Unfortunately, that’s easier said than done. Because previous studies have varied widely in their conditions–what toilet shape, how large a flush, microbe type, pathogen concentration, lid/no lid, sampling parameters, and so on–it’s difficult to sort out each factor’s impact. Across the studies they surveyed, however, the team made two observations.

First, the higher the concentration of microbes, the higher the post-flush aerosol concentration. Similarly, a larger flush volume (creating a more energetic flush) also raises aerosol concentration. That higher aerosol concentration gets more disturbing in the context of one of their other findings: that some toilet flushes launch aerosols to the breathing height of an adult. Kids–whose shorter height places them closer to the seat–get even more exposure.

To really pin down how to design our bathrooms to minimize disease transmission, we’ll need more studies, and the authors pinpoint what characteristics future researchers need to measure and report. In the meantime, err on the side of putting the lid down before you flush! (Image credit: E. Wilcox; research credit: L. Adiyani et al.; via Gizmodo)

What’s in a Flush?

Flushing a toilet produces a cloud of tiny, inhaleable aerosol droplets, as we’ve seen before. When the flush includes pathogens, those droplets can become seeds for infection. A new study tries to synthesize the literature on this health threat.

Unfortunately, that’s easier said than done. Because previous studies have varied widely in their conditions–what toilet shape, how large a flush, microbe type, pathogen concentration, lid/no lid, sampling parameters, and so on–it’s difficult to sort out each factor’s impact. Across the studies they surveyed, however, the team made two observations.

First, the higher the concentration of microbes, the higher the post-flush aerosol concentration. Similarly, a larger flush volume (creating a more energetic flush) also raises aerosol concentration. That higher aerosol concentration gets more disturbing in the context of one of their other findings: that some toilet flushes launch aerosols to the breathing height of an adult. Kids–whose shorter height places them closer to the seat–get even more exposure.

To really pin down how to design our bathrooms to minimize disease transmission, we’ll need more studies, and the authors pinpoint what characteristics future researchers need to measure and report. In the meantime, err on the side of putting the lid down before you flush! (Image credit: E. Wilcox; research credit: L. Adiyani et al.; via Gizmodo)

What’s in a Flush?

Flushing a toilet produces a cloud of tiny, inhaleable aerosol droplets, as we’ve seen before. When the flush includes pathogens, those droplets can become seeds for infection. A new study tries to synthesize the literature on this health threat.

Unfortunately, that’s easier said than done. Because previous studies have varied widely in their conditions–what toilet shape, how large a flush, microbe type, pathogen concentration, lid/no lid, sampling parameters, and so on–it’s difficult to sort out each factor’s impact. Across the studies they surveyed, however, the team made two observations.

First, the higher the concentration of microbes, the higher the post-flush aerosol concentration. Similarly, a larger flush volume (creating a more energetic flush) also raises aerosol concentration. That higher aerosol concentration gets more disturbing in the context of one of their other findings: that some toilet flushes launch aerosols to the breathing height of an adult. Kids–whose shorter height places them closer to the seat–get even more exposure.

To really pin down how to design our bathrooms to minimize disease transmission, we’ll need more studies, and the authors pinpoint what characteristics future researchers need to measure and report. In the meantime, err on the side of putting the lid down before you flush! (Image credit: E. Wilcox; research credit: L. Adiyani et al.; via Gizmodo)

What’s in a Flush?

Flushing a toilet produces a cloud of tiny, inhaleable aerosol droplets, as we’ve seen before. When the flush includes pathogens, those droplets can become seeds for infection. A new study tries to synthesize the literature on this health threat.

Unfortunately, that’s easier said than done. Because previous studies have varied widely in their conditions–what toilet shape, how large a flush, microbe type, pathogen concentration, lid/no lid, sampling parameters, and so on–it’s difficult to sort out each factor’s impact. Across the studies they surveyed, however, the team made two observations.

First, the higher the concentration of microbes, the higher the post-flush aerosol concentration. Similarly, a larger flush volume (creating a more energetic flush) also raises aerosol concentration. That higher aerosol concentration gets more disturbing in the context of one of their other findings: that some toilet flushes launch aerosols to the breathing height of an adult. Kids–whose shorter height places them closer to the seat–get even more exposure.

To really pin down how to design our bathrooms to minimize disease transmission, we’ll need more studies, and the authors pinpoint what characteristics future researchers need to measure and report. In the meantime, err on the side of putting the lid down before you flush! (Image credit: E. Wilcox; research credit: L. Adiyani et al.; via Gizmodo)