One of our daily habits that makes us prone to illnesses is flushing the toilet with an open lid. Since the 1950s, people across the world have known that flushing the toilet results in the spread of faecal matter and toilet water containing life-threatening germs. Despite this, most of us tend to forget to close the lid before flushing.
Researchers from the University of Colorado, earlier, experimented to find out what happens when we flush with an open lid. It was found toilet plumes can fly 4.9 feet above the toilet within eight seconds. Not visible through the naked eye, these ‘toilet plumes’ contain extremely small droplets, forming an invisible aerosol mist. What’s even more worrying is that these aerosols carry bacteria and viruses around the bathroom, landing on the surfaces, things and people present. Therefore, due to the risk of infection that the explosion can create, it was recommended by the scientists to close the lid before flushing to contain the spread.
According to scientists, toilet plumes of tiny droplets sent out after flushing spread through the air to every bathroom surface and stay for a significant duration. To prevent the same, flushing a toilet with the lid closed is recommended. It is sanitary hygiene and also helps prevent the spread of germs and odours. Meanwhile, research has also found that the practice of closing the lid before flushing decreases rates of illnesses like norovirus.
Meanwhile, the absence of a lid to close in the public toilets is consistently more contaminated than the domestic toilet, as per the study. As a consequence, smaller particles suspended in the air can expose people to respiratory diseases like influenza and COVID-19 whereas the larger particles which settle quickly on surfaces lead people to fall prey to intestinal diseases, such as norovirus, which spreads through contact with the hands and mouth.
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