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Toilets spew invisible aerosol plumes with every flush – here's the proof, captured by high-powered lasers

John Crimaldi, Professor of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering, University of Colorado Boulder, The Conversation on

Published in Science & Technology News

An advantage of using laser light to measure fluid flows is that, unlike a physical probe, light does not alter or disrupt the very thing you are trying to measure. Furthermore, using lasers to make invisible things visible helps people, as visual creatures, better understand complexities in the fluid environment they live in.

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.

Our experimental methodology provides a foundation for future work to test a range of strategies to minimize the risk of exposure to diseases from flushing toilets. This could include assessing changes to aerosol plumes emanating from new toilet bowl designs or flush valves that change the duration or intensity of the flush cycle.

 

Meanwhile, there are ways to reduce human exposure to toilet plumes. An obvious strategy is to close the lid prior to flushing. However, this does not completely eliminate aerosol plumes, and many toilets in public, commercial and health care settings do not have lids. Ventilation or UV disinfection systems could also mitigate exposure to aerosol plumes in the bathroom.

This article is republished from The Conversation, an independent nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts. It was written by: John Crimaldi, University of Colorado Boulder. If you found it interesting, you could subscribe to our weekly newsletter.

Read more:
From odor to action – how smells are processed in the brain and influence behavior

Coronavirus drifts through the air in microscopic droplets – here’s the science of infectious aerosols

John Crimaldi receives funding from the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, and the US Army DEVCOM Chemical Biological Center.


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