Q & A: Does Flushing a Toilet Release Germs Into the Air?

Q. Do many germs escape into the air when a toilet is flushed, and do they affect our health?

A. The jury is still out on this age-old question, a new review of the scientific literature suggests.

The possible peril of a toilet plume became famous through a 1975 study by Charles P. Gerba in the journal Applied Microbiology. Dr. Gerba seeded household toilets with disease germs and then tested to see if they survived after flushing. He concluded that ?there is a possibility that a person may acquire an infection from an aerosol produced by a toilet.?

But a new review article finds that there are as yet no direct cases of proven infection, and that the possible risk is still unknown. The researchers looked at all the peer-reviewed studies of the matter, both epidemiological and microbiological. Their study, published last month by The American Journal of Infection Control, says that ?no studies have yet clearly demonstrated or refuted toilet-plume-related disease transmission, and the significance of the risk remains largely uncharacterized.?

The new study concludes that toilet plumes ?could play a contributory role in the transmission of infectious diseases? but that additional research is warranted to assess the risks. In the meantime, when someone in the house is sick or at risk of illness, it might be prudent to protect toothbrushes and drinking glasses by putting them in the medicine cabinet.

C. CLAIBORNE RAY

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/27/science/the-possible-peril-of-the-toilet-plume.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

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