Toilets spew invisible aerosol plumes with every flush – here’s the proof, captured by high-powered lasers
https://theconversation.com/toilets-spew...ers-195717
EXCERPT: Every time you flush a toilet, it releases plumes of tiny water droplets into the air around you. These droplets, called aerosol plumes, can spread pathogens from human waste and expose people in public restrooms to contagious diseases.
Scientific understanding of the spread of aerosol plumes – and public awareness of their existence – has been hampered by the fact that they are normally invisible. My colleagues Aaron True, Karl Linden, Mark Hernandez, Lars Larson and Anna Pauls and I were able to use high-power lasers to illuminate these plumes, enabling us to image and measure the location and motion of spreading aerosol plumes from flushing commercial toilets in vivid detail.
[...] Aerosol particles containing pathogens are important human disease vectors. Smaller particles that remain suspended in air for a period of time can expose people to respiratory diseases like influenza and COVID-19 through inhalation. Larger particles that settle quickly on surfaces can spread intestinal diseases like norovirus through contact with the hands and mouth.
Toilet bowl water contaminated by feces can have pathogen concentrations that persist after dozens of flushes. But it is still an open question as to whether toilet aerosol plumes present a transmission risk.
While we were able visually and quantitatively to describe how aerosol plumes move and disperse, our work does not directly address how toilet plumes transmit disease, and this remains an ongoing aspect of research... (MORE - missing details)
https://youtu.be/oC_f0UAGwMU
https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/oC_f0UAGwMU
https://theconversation.com/toilets-spew...ers-195717
EXCERPT: Every time you flush a toilet, it releases plumes of tiny water droplets into the air around you. These droplets, called aerosol plumes, can spread pathogens from human waste and expose people in public restrooms to contagious diseases.
Scientific understanding of the spread of aerosol plumes – and public awareness of their existence – has been hampered by the fact that they are normally invisible. My colleagues Aaron True, Karl Linden, Mark Hernandez, Lars Larson and Anna Pauls and I were able to use high-power lasers to illuminate these plumes, enabling us to image and measure the location and motion of spreading aerosol plumes from flushing commercial toilets in vivid detail.
[...] Aerosol particles containing pathogens are important human disease vectors. Smaller particles that remain suspended in air for a period of time can expose people to respiratory diseases like influenza and COVID-19 through inhalation. Larger particles that settle quickly on surfaces can spread intestinal diseases like norovirus through contact with the hands and mouth.
Toilet bowl water contaminated by feces can have pathogen concentrations that persist after dozens of flushes. But it is still an open question as to whether toilet aerosol plumes present a transmission risk.
While we were able visually and quantitatively to describe how aerosol plumes move and disperse, our work does not directly address how toilet plumes transmit disease, and this remains an ongoing aspect of research... (MORE - missing details)
https://youtu.be/oC_f0UAGwMU