Single-use paper towels offer a more hygienic way to dry hands after washing conclude scientists

A new study has found that electric hand dryers spread microbes much more than paper hand towels. It concludes that despite the advent of so-called ‘newer’ and ‘redesigned’ air dryer models, the contamination risks persist. Microbes can linger in the air up to 30 minutes after dryer use and potential for virus spread via droplets and aerosols on surfaces and in the air is considerably higher than when drying hands with paper towels.

This latest study, carried out by a team at the Leeds Institute of Medical Research, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Leeds, UK, and Department of Microbiology, Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, Leeds, UK underlines how choices of hand drying method in public washrooms can mean the difference between reducing microbe spread or increasing it.

“There is a long-running evidence base stretching back almost two decades, recording how air dryers continue to fail on hygiene,” explains leading microbiologist Professor Mark Wilcox OBE, who led the study.

Single-use paper towels offer a more hygienic way to dry hands after washing conclude scientists – Papnews

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