"Drying hands and getting germs"...英 Scientist Reveals Hand Dryer Secrets

A comparative experiment of bacteria between air (left) from the hand dryer in public toilets and air (right) floating inside the laboratory / TikTok

A British scientist has advised against using a hand dryer that dries after washing your hands in public toilets. This is due to bacteria inside the

hand dryer.

Recently, British media Daily Mail introduced a video posted by scientist Ruth McLaren on an SNS account that shares scientific content.

In the video, Ruth McLaren compared the air from a public toilet hand dryer with bacteria from the air floating inside the laboratory.

He collected samples, cultured them, and checked their condition the next day. As a result, various colored stains appeared on dishes containing air samples from hand dryers. It has been identified as several types of bacteria and fungi. On the contrary, plates containing regular air samples were clean.Bacteria from the

hand dryer are E. coli or hepatitis virus, and it has been confirmed that the air in the bathroom is sucked into the dryer and then sprayed.

"Bacteria exist inside hand dryers," McLaren said. "So I use a paper towel or dry my hands as they are without using a hand dryer."

Reporter Park Sun-young of Digital News Team