Air hand dryers transfer five times more bacteria than paper towels

Does it make sense to use air-powered hand dryers in hospitals?

Researchers found that air-dried hand dryers should be banned from hospital toilets because they distribute large amounts of bacteria and germs. The use of paper towels significantly reduces the risk of spreading germs between patients.

Researchers at the University of Leeds found in their study that paper towels should be used in hospital toilets rather than air-dried hand dryers to prevent the spread of dangerous germs. The physicians published the results of their study in the English-language journal "Journal of Hospital Infection".

Regular hand washing is an important preventive measure for infections. However, when so-called jet air dryers are used to dry the hands, this leads to a strong distribution of bacteria.
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Most people do not wash their hands properly

The use of air-driven hand dryers increases the concentration of dangerous bacteria in hospitals, causing blood poisoning, pneumonia and gastroenteritis. The experts found in their study that the dryers can spread up to five times as much bacteria as paper towels. The problem starts because some people do not wash their hands properly, says study author Professor Mark Wilcox from the University of Leeds.

Disadvantages of jet-air dryers

When people use a so-called jet-air dryer, the microbes are blown away and then distributed in the toilet room. In fact, the dryer additionally produces an aerosol that contaminates the toilet room, including the dryer itself and possibly the sink, floor and other surfaces, depending on the design of the dryer and its location, the scientists write. When people touch these surfaces, they risk being contaminated by the bacteria or viruses.

Paper towels pose a lower risk

Jet air dryers often rely on non-contact technology to initiate hands drying. However, paper towels absorb the water and microbes left on the hands and, if properly disposed of, there is less potential for cross contamination. The use of paper towels significantly reduces the risk that germs spread between sick patients, emphasize the physicians. According to the results, dryers can spread up to five times more bacteria on the floor than paper towels.

Air dryers endanger patients and visitors

The use of air dryers in the toilets of departments of hospitals and other clinical areas has already been limited in some countries, but due to noise rather than safety. Therefore, such dryers continue to be allowed in public areas of the hospital and endanger patients and visitors, say the experts.

How was the study done??

The research team examined two toilets each in three hospitals in the United Kingdom, France and Italy. Each of the toilets examined had paper towel dispensers and air dryers. On certain days, people there used only paper towel dispensers on other days, only the air dryer were used. Over a period of twelve weeks, the level of bacterial contamination in the toilets was measured each day, allowing comparisons between the effects of paper towels and air dryers. The scientists found five times more bacteria on the floor when air dryers were in use, compared to paper towels and also significantly more bacteria in the air, the dust and on the surfaces of the room.

Which bacteria were distributed?

The experts found, for example, E. coli bacteria that cause gastroenteritis and pneumonia, Staphylococcus aureus, which is responsible for wound infections and septicemia and enterococci that cause difficult to treat infections, especially in patients who undergo chemotherapy, explain the physicians. Several examples of greater bacterial contamination have been found on surfaces, including fecal and antibiotic-resistant bacteria, when nozzle air dryers were used instead of paper towels, study author Professor Wilcox explains in a press release. The choice of hand drying method influences how likely microbes spread and may also affect the risk of infection. (As)