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Closing toilet lid before flushing doesn't keep viral spray inside, study suggests (www.cidrap.umn.edu)

submitted 9 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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Contrary to previous study findings, closing the toilet lid before flushing doesn't stop aerosolized viruses from contaminating bathroom surfaces, scientists from the University of Arizona and Reckitt Benckiser LLC, the company that makes the disinfectant used in the study, report in the American Journal of Infection Control.

The researchers added a bacteriophage (virus that targets and kills bacteria) to household and public toilet bowls as a proxy for human intestinal viruses. After they flushed the toilets (with the lid open or closed in case of the household toilets), they measured viral contamination of the toilet and bathroom floor and walls.

"Research has demonstrated that people with COVID-19, even those who are asymptomatic, excrete severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) in fecal matter and other excretions," the researchers wrote. "Viruses contaminating urine and feces can be aerosolized in building restrooms during toilet flushing."

The resulting toilet aerosol plumes, they said, can land on surfaces more than 5 feet away.

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[–] [email protected] 20 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (3 children)

I mean, fair; the lid isn't a total seal so I expect it to be able to kinda come out around the edges of the lid; but wouldn't it still keep all the stuff at least in a smaller area? It's not blasting straight up in the air with the lid blocking it, is it? The floors and baseboards get cleaned pretty frequently; the ceiling not so much.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Just stop licking the bathroom ceiling.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 9 months ago

Don't tell me how to live my life.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 9 months ago (1 children)

You ever watch smoke dissipate when you blow out a candle??

[–] [email protected] 6 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

That is a great analogy. We always assume gravity is the same for everyone, but when you're as tiny as an aerosol droplet, air currents are a lot more relevant.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago (3 children)

Is kind of like holding a pot lid out to block a grenade. There’s some protection but practically zero.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 9 months ago

I've seen bugs bunny, that totally works

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago (1 children)

My main concern is always my toothbrush. But it’s on a counter above the toilet. So wouldn’t keeping the lid down help significantly, in both the direction and distance of whatever is stirred up?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 9 months ago

Turbulence might be enough bring it up and everywhere regardless. The movement of your own body would cycle air every which way right after you flush, plus many bathrooms have ventilation fans near the ceiling, drawing air upward.