MANILA, Philippines — A new peer-reviewed study has found that every time a toilet is flushed, it releases plumes of tiny droplets or aerosol plumes, as caught on lasers, prompting a call for people to be more aware of their sanitation habits.
A team from the University of Colorado in the United States led by engineering professor John Crimaldi were able to measure the location and motion of these aerosol plumes in vivid detail even though they appear invisible to the naked eye.
According to the study, whenever a toilet is flushed, water comes into contact with the bowl's contents, thus creating an unseen spray of particles into the air.
Crimaldi and his colleages projected that a typical commercial toilet generates a strong upward jet of air with velocities exceeding 6.6 feet per second that go up to five feet above the toilet bowl, all within eight seconds of the start of the flush.
To capture these particles, the team used special optics to create a thin vertical sheet of green laser light for the area above the toilet bowl. As such, the particles scatter enough laser light to become visible and are captured on camera.
Crimaldi notes that aerosol particles containing pathogens can lead to disease, and that toilet bowl water contaminated by feces have concentrations that persist after multiple flushes — but it opens a discussion whether such aerosol plumes present a transmission risk.
What the team did suggest is to close toilet bowl lids before flushing and/or utilize ventilation or ultraviolet (UV) disinfection systems to mitigate exposure to aerosol plumes in the bathroom, particularly, in public toilets. — Videos from The Conversation via YouTube
RELATED: What is hand, foot and mouth disease?