Showing posts with label Hand drying. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hand drying. Show all posts

Sunday, November 23, 2014

That electric hand dryer study was bogus: Here's why

Just about everyone I follow on Twitter commented and/or linked to an article about a study claiming that electric hand dryers spew bacteria all over people using restrooms.

The paper, which appeared online in The Journal of Hospital Infection, said that airborne germ counts near jet air dryers were 27 times higher than counts near paper towel dispensers, and counts near warm air dryers were 4.5 times higher. The authors also coated subjects hands with black paint and measured spatter patterns on surrounding walls and persons dressed in disposable coveralls. And a photo from the study shows the dispersal pattern from a warm air dryer.

So case closed—paper towels are better, right?

I'm not so sure. Instead of reading an article about the paper or just the abstract, I obtained a copy of the whole paper. I also found some comments about it from a spokesperson for a hand dryer manufacturer.

What are the flaws in the study?