You have great hygiene of course (of course you do!), but wait--could you be doing something in the bathroom that might make you, and others, sick?
UK researchers have some germy news for all of us: If you flush the toilet with the lid up, you're basically spraying the bathroom with microscopic fecal droplets that can make people sick.
Researchers from Leeds Teaching Hospitals in the U.K. found the diarrhea-causing bacteria C. difficile (which can sometimes be life-threatening) as high as 10 inches above the toilet seat in restrooms swabbed for germ contamination after people flushed with toilet lids up.
"Lidless conventional toilets increase the risk of C. difficile environmental contamination, and we suggest that their use is discouraged, particularly in settings where [C. difficile infection] is common," the authors wrote.
"Almost everywhere we go, except in some public spaces, we have lids on our commodes. But not everyone puts them down when they flush," said Dr. William Schaffner, chair of preventive medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, to ABC News. "Doing so will reduce this type of environmental contamination very substantially."
This news is kind of gross and eye-opening, isn't it? But, have you noticed that almost all public restroom toilets do not even have lids? Yeah, so basically, according to the study, when you hear flushing, you know that germs are swirling in the air. Great.
__Share! Do you always put the toilet lid down before flushing? __