Grosser Than Ever, Hot-Air Hand Dryers Spread Fecal Matter Throughout Buildings (Video)

Apparently drying our hands with a hand dryer may actually be spreading germs. Nathan Rousseau Smith has the dirty details.

Think twice about using restroom hot-air hand dryers. The high-force air flow through dryer nozzles spreads all sorts of nasty particles, including tiny bits of poop light enough to travel through the air.

But the grossness doesn’t stop at your hands. In a study published in Applied and Environmental Microbiology, Connecticut researchers found bacteria dispersed by hot-air dryers spread throughout buildings.

The researchers tested bacteria dispersion in 36 University of Connecticut School of Medicine bathrooms. Rather than looking for feces flakes, the scientists searched for a harmless, lab-engineered bacteria called PS533. At the UConn school, spores of this strain of Bacillus subtilis are produced in a single basic science research lab.

University of Connecticut professor Peter Setlow, one of the study authors, told Newsweek the spores probably spread through the air. The research team found PS533 spores in all 36 bathrooms.