Disposable towels provide the best hygiene
A study shows that disposable towels spread fewer germs than other methods when drying hands.
Disposable towels
A new University of Westminster study commissioned by the European Tissue Symposium (ETS) has found that hand drying with disposable towels reduces the spread of germs in the air and the risk of infection. This could help improve hygiene in washrooms.
The study, conducted by leading microbiologist Keith Redway, examined the potential microbiological contamination from hand drying and the potential risk of spreading germs into the air, especially when hand washing is not optimal. Four different methods of hand drying and three different test models were used to determine the differences between drying methods and their potential impact on the spread of germs from users' hands to others in and around public washrooms.
For this purpose, paper towels, a fabric towel dispenser, a hot air blower and a jet hand dryer were compared. A test model with an acid indicator with lemon juice, a test model with yeast and a test model in which bacterial transmission from the hands was determined when washing without soap were used. The study was published in the Journal of Hospital Infection in March 2015.
The result: the jet hand dryer distributed the liquid further and over a greater distance - up to 1.5 m - from the hands than was the case with the other methods of hand drying. Also, for each of the test models, the jet hand dryer dispersed germs the most, both in close proximity and at a greater distance.
The values determined on the drying device showed an average of 59.5 yeast colonies with the jet hand dryer compared to an average of only 2.2 yeast colonies when using paper towels. At a distance of 0.2 m, 67 colonies were counted with jet hand dryers compared to only 6.5 colonies with paper towels. At a distance of 1.5 m, 11.5 colonies were found with the jet hand dryer, compared with zero colonies with paper towels.
The full study is here (in English).
