Hand dryers versus paper towels A
pilot study undertaken by experts from the microbiology department at Leeds Teaching
Hospitals NHS Trust and the University of Leeds suggests hospital washrooms with jet air dryers may have higher levels of environmental microbial contamination than those using single- use paper hand towels. The study, which was performed over
three months, was undertaken by microbiologist. Professor Mark Wilcox and funded by the European Tissue Symposium, ETS. The levels of environmental microbial
contamination were examined in two men’s washrooms within one hospital: one had paper hand towels as the method of hand drying after handwashing and the other had a jet air dryer. The washrooms were used by
hospital staff, patients and visitors. Professor Wilcox said: “There were
some significant differences and generally lower levels of microbial
contamination in the paper towel washroom than in the jet air dryer washroom. “A greater range of microbes was
also recovered from the jet air dryer washroom; the floor and dryer unit were more-heavily contaminated; and mean counts of micro-organisms recovered from air were 1.6-fold higher.” Notably, higher counts of
Enterococcus faecalis, which could be related to toileting, followed by suboptimal handwashing, were observed in the washroom with the air dryer versus the washroom with single- use paper towels. The pilot study concluded that it is
feasible to carry out longitudinal testing to examine the levels of environmental contamination associated with different hand-drying methods. Professor Wilcox said: “We
encourage further studies to determine the risks associated with hand-drying method-associated environmental microbial contamination.”
Key study findings
• Mean number of micro-organisms recovered from air in washroom with jet air dryers was 1.6-fold higher than in washroom with paper towels
• Microbial burdens on floors were significantly higher in washroom with jet air dryers than in that with paper towels – 2.0x10⁴ vs 3.3x 10³ cfu/mL
• Jet air dryer casing also had significantly higher microbes counts than the paper towel dispenser – 1.2 x 105
vs 2.4 x 10⁴ cfu/ML
• Enterococcus faecalis recovered from the jet air dryer unit was 3.4x 10³ cfu/mL compared with 71.4 cfu/mL on the paper towel dispenser.
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