You’re in a public bathroom. Like most people, you’re concerned about the coronavirus. So you make sure to wash your hands thoroughly.
Now you have to dry them. You head toward the paper towel dispenser. But there’s also an electric hand dryer.
Which do you use?
Researchers have found that your decision could mean the difference between catching a nasty virus or not.
Scientists at the University of Westminster conducted a study which examined three hand-drying options:
- Paper towels.
- Warm air dryers. These are the old fashioned blowers with a nozzle that shoots air downward onto your hands.
- Jet dryers. These are the newer devices with a slot into which you place your hands. They shoot out air at 300 mph.
The Best Way to Dry Your Hands to Stop Coronavirus
The researchers asked subjects to dip their gloved hands into a solution of a harmless virus. It’s called MS2. Then, after giving their hands a quick shake, they tried one of the three drying methods.
Finally, samples were collected from the air and surfaces at different distances from where the drying took place.
The verdict?
The jet blower is a germ-spewing machine.
It spread 1,300 times more microbes around the bathroom than paper towels. Some of the virus particles landed 10 feet away.
Jet dryers were 60 times germier than regular warm air hand dryers. [i]
Researchers concluded that jet dryers not only put the person who is drying their hands at risk… They endanger others in the bathroom at the same time.
The scientists said warm air blowers are somewhat better because they push germs towards the floor. Paper towels are the best option because they create little air movement.
The findings echo those of a 2012 review in the Mayo Clinic Proceedings. It looked at 12 studies on hand-drying methods.
The study authors concluded that paper towels remove more bacteria than traditional air dryers. (They didn’t look at jet dryers.) Paper towels create friction and this helps physically remove bacteria, scientists said.
In fact, some experts believe this friction removes more microbes than actual washing.
A third study also found that air dryers are a bad option…
It was published in the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology. Scientists brought plates into restrooms. They exposed some of the plates to 30 seconds of air blown from hand dryers. They let the other plates just sit on restroom counters for two minutes.[ii]
The plates that sat out had on average fewer than one germ colony on them. The air-blasted plates had 18 to 60 colonies. That’s what you could also expect on your hands after using them.[iii]
The researchers believe hand dryers act as germ “reservoirs.”
Dr. Peter Setlow led the plate study. He says he now uses paper towels to dry his hands. During the coronavirus epidemic, it’s more important than ever that you do the same.
Editor’s Note: If you’re worried about the coronavirus outbreak, you need to know about “infinite immunity.” It’s a recent Nobel Prize-winning discovery that gives your body the power to fight off most infections. You can find out more by reading our monthly journal, Independent Healing. Go HERE.
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[i]http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-3536582/Step-AWAY-hand-dryer-Expert-reveals-hygienic-way-dry-hands-verdict-surprise-you.html
[ii]https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2018/04/12/hand-dryers-suck-bathroom-bacteria-and-blow-them-all-over-your-hands-study-finds/511723002/
[iii]https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2018/04/12/hand-dryers-suck-bathroom-bacteria-and-blow-them-all-over-your-hands-study-finds/511723002/