Public restrooms can be a disgusting place filled with unflushed toilets and other repulsive smells. The rise of hand-dryers is only contributing to this problem, posing a more serious risk to public health than most people think.

In 2018, researchers from the University of Connecticut suspected that hand dryers in public bathrooms may be sucking up bacteria from the surrounding air, and blowing it onto the freshly washed hands of unaware guests. To prove this hypothesis, scientists placed petri dishes in different locations around a bathroom, and then recorded any mycobacterial growth. With the hand dryers off, petri dishes exposed to the air in the bathroom grew one or zero colonies of bacteria within a span of two minutes. However, petri dishes exposed to the hot-air hand dryers for thirty seconds grew anywhere from 18 to 254 colonies.

Why do hand dryers induce bacterial growth? Every time a toilet is flushed, it dissipates a fine mist of microbes over a large area. From there, the dryers take the air, now filled with microbes, and circulate it around the entire room.

Hand dryers can even pose a threat in places such as hospitals or retirement homes. These are areas that need to be sanitary, as people there are more susceptible to infections. 

Newer jet air dryers such as the Dyson Airblade, designed to reduce bacteria spread, have become more widespread across the country. These dryers employ the use of fast moving air that acts as an “air squeegee” to remove the water, rather than evaporating it with warm air. While this new technology does reduce the spread of bacteria, it does not entirely eliminate it, meaning we need cleaner alternatives.

Thankfully, there are more sanitary alternatives for drying one’s hands. For instance, using paper towels can be a cleaner method that exposes you to fewer bacteria. To reduce their environmental impact, paper towels can be recycled and repurposed into something useful. However, the best way to minimize your exposure to germs would just be to let your hands air dry.

I personally believe that hand dryers are the least sensible method of drying and should not be implemented at Jesuit. They are loud, time-consuming, and can influence the spread of bacteria. There are many other choices such as paper towels, cloth towels, and passive air drying that can make public facilities cleaner and safer places for us all.