Hand Dryers Do More Than Just Dry Hands

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Matthew Lloyd

Highland student drying his hand

Matthew Lloyd, Staff Writer

 

After going to the bathroom, washing and drying your hands is the next step in order to clean your hands right? The washing part yes, but when it comes to drying your hands make sure that you stay away from hand dryers. Hand dryers blow out a lot more than just warm air. Each time a person flushes a toilet, fecal bacteria shoots into the air. However the bacteria does not just disappear it’s sucked in by hand dryers and then gets shot onto ones hands along with other bacteria’s when they turn on the hand dryers.

A study done that tested the effect that using towels in bathrooms compared to bathrooms which contain hand dryers. There was a large difference in the amount of pathogens, bathrooms which used towels found six pathogens, compared to 254 in bathrooms containing hand dryers.

Highland senior Lingi Latu who went to the bathroom and dried his hands using a hand dryer to come out to hear the truth.

“Are you serious? That’s disgusting I’m never going to use a hand dryer again,” Said Latu

Next time you are drying your hands think twice, if you want fecal matter all over your hands go ahead and use the hand dryer, if not go ahead and opt for another alternative.