Is there really a risk in public toilet seats?
If you spend a lot of time outdoors, human physiology dictates that you will eventually need to visit a public restroom. And like any shared space, it’s likely full of germs. But do shared toilets pose a public health risk or not?
“There are some health risks associated with public toilets,” said Erica Donner, professor of environmental sciences at the University of South Australia. The level of risk depends on many things, including how often the bathroom is cleaned and whether it’s well ventilated, she explained. But you can also take simple steps to protect yourself, said Donner, coauthor of a recent review of studies of infectious disease transmission in public toilets.
Health officials have tracked the spread of certain diseasecausing viruses and bacteria in public toilets, including norovirus in workplace toilets, airplanes and cruise ships; Salmonella in dormitories bathrooms; and hepatitis A in elementary school toilets. Numerous studies have also documented the presence of pathogenic microbes on toilets and other surfaces in public restrooms, as Donner’s recent article summarizes.
Most of these pathogens make their way onto bathroom surfaces through the toilet bowl, since feces and even urine can contain many bacteria and viruses, said Charles Gerba, a professor of microbiology at the University of Arizona in the United States.
Studies have shown that flushing the toilet disperses the tiny microbes in an aerosol cloud that can reach up to 5 feet (1.5 m) into the air and remain airborne for an hour or more before landing on surrounding surfaces. “All public toilets are contaminated to some extent just by flushing the toilet,” Gerba said.
But sitting on a contaminated toilet seat and getting some viruses or bacteria on your butt skin doesn’t necessarily make you sick. Most of these pathogens are not “buttborne diseases,” as Gerba put it.
An exception can be skin infections, particularly those caused by methicillinresistant Staphylococcus aureus, or SARMs, a type of bacteria that is resistant to many antibiotics and therefore difficult to treat.
SARMs have been detected in public restrooms and “can be transferred from skin to a surface and then to another person’s skin,” Gerba said. It’s not well documented how often this happens, but cleaning a public toilet seat with a disinfectant wipe before use reduces the risk, he said. (Only dispose of the handkerchief in the trash, not in the toilet.)
He also agreed with Ina Park, an associate professor of community family medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, who said the risk of MRSA “could be a reason to use a toilet seat cover, if you have one, especially if you have an injury.” the skin that could come into contact with the toilet seat”.
But “in general, the risk is low,” she added. And SARMs have been found on many other public surfaces, including ATM keypads, elevator buttons, locker buttons, and beach sand, as well as in buses and hotel rooms.
Therefore, this risk does not only exist in bathrooms.
Toilet seat covers also don’t offer foolproof protection. They can be contaminated by aerosols from previous discharges or by occupants from other cabins, Donner said, and are sometimes unavailable.
In this case, is it better to hang over the toilet seat to avoid direct contact? “If you’ve got strong muscles, stay in limbo, but only if you’re good at aiming,” she said. “They can accidentally wreak havoc and increase risk to others.”
More important than wearing a protective sheet, sitting or standing, is how you clean your hands after using the toilet, Donner said. Thanks to the spring effect in the bathroom and the use of air hand dryers, which she says can spread germs from wet hands or open trash cans up to 3 meters, every surface in a public restroom flush valves, lock cabinets, sink faucets and exit doors B . be contaminated.
And the most common route of infection is “the charmingly socalled ‘fecaloral route,’ which occurs when pathogens from an infected person’s feces get into their mouth after they’ve “touched contaminated surfaces and then touched their face,” Donner explained.
For handwashing to be effective, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends wetting your hands with clean water, rubbing them with soap for at least 20 seconds, rinsing, and then drying. But most people don’t wash their hands long enough, and public restrooms often run out of soap and paper towels.
It’s also sometimes difficult to wash well, like in airplane lavatories with their tiny sinks and water droplets, and it’s hard not to touch a surface afterwards, Gerba said. After using a public restroom, “it’s best to wash your hands and then use hand sanitizer when going out,” he said.
Other tips to remember: If you’re taking a purse or backpack to a public restroom, avoid placing it on the floor, which is one of the dirtiest surfaces in the bathroom, Gerba said. Keep your phone hidden to avoid contaminating it and try not to touch surfaces as much as possible, Donner recommends.
Also consider closing the toilet lid before flushing as a public health measure and as a courtesy to others this step significantly reduces toilet splashes.
One thing you don’t need to worry about is a sexually transmitted infection in a bathroom, Park said. “I’m not going to say it’s absolutely impossible, but it’s very unlikely,” she said.
Pathogens like gonorrhea and chlamydia don’t survive long on surfaces and must enter the penis or vagina to cause infection, she said. “Where we sit on the toilet is not the right area.”
Translated by Luiz Roberto M. Gonçalves