Aurora Starchild
A viral TikTok video proving how unsanitary electric hand dryers are will make you think twice about ever using one again. As it turns out, they actually spread bacteria by blowing contaminated air all over your hands.
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It’s incredibly disappointing to think that all this time, we’ve been gingerly inserting our hands in between the air blowers, thinking they’re coming out crispy clean. That’s not the case at all.
The TikToker, who dubs the video “another episode of How Germy Is It?” takes several samples and places them in front of various hand dryers. He also simulates shaking his hands dry with a control sample. He then places each of the specimens in an incubator for 72 hours. The results will make your stomach turn.
Each of the samples placed in an electric hand dryer is atrociously covered in bacteria. The worst hand dryer sample came from a gas station, but other locations weren’t much better.
And the sample from shaking his hands dry was totally pristine. So, it’s probably best to just avoid electric hand dryers altogether from now on.
Another Electric Hand Dryer Study Showed Similar Results
The TikTok video backs up a recent study showing that electric hand dryers spread germs more than paper towels. That study had people place a harmless virus on hands, either gloved or bare, and then asked them to dry them using paper towels or hand blowers. People who used paper towels had far fewer viruses still on their hands than the other group. The study was performed in the midst of the COVID pandemic.
While that study was ridiculed for its low sample size and for using what was perceived by some scientists as too much virus, it brought the issue to the public’s attention.
So next time you wash your hands, remember that there are several precautions you can take. You can use a paper towel, tissue, or a part of your arm to turn the water on and off. Try not to touch the soap dispenser directly with your bare hands as well. And when it comes time to dry your hands, consider just shaking them out.
