Hand dryers suspected of spreading fungi and moulds

[Arnie Pye]

We all want to do our part for the environment so instead of reaching for the stack of paper towels, we stick our hands into the hand dryer after washing in public toilets, right?


Thinking that it is only hot air coming into contact with our hands, we walk out of the toilet feeling assured that our hands are clean.


However, after reading this woman's Facebook post, maybe you might want to change your opinion.


Nichole Ward, of California found out to her horror what was actually lurking inside those hand dryers after she conducted a simple experiment.


Her discovery which she shared on Facebook struck a chord with viewers worldwide, garnering over half a million shares and counting.


Take a look at the curious photograph she attached to her FB post below. Looks like some kind of fungal growth right?

Article continues here :

http://malaysiandigest.com/frontpag...ublic-toilets-hand-dryers-is-going-viral.html

I would want more details of how exactly she conducted her experiment before I got too concerned. If her experiment turns out to have scientific merit, it would have to be repeated with different makes of hand dryer - just because certain designs turn out to be bad doesn't mean they all will. I've seen a lot of old and dilapidated dryers in places like restaurants that worry me, although up to now my main worry with these has been electrocution.

 

[Barry]

I've stopped using these at my work. For some years the skin on my hands had been splitting quite badly, and it dawned on me when I spent a few weeks off work and my hands were OK again that it might be work related; they got bad again after a few weeks back at work. The 'obvious' culprit was the soap, but after a few weeks I concluded that was not the issue. The only other thing I could think of was the dryers, which I considered a long shot. But after a couple of weeks not using them, and for a good few months now, my hands are fine again. I assume it is down to my skin being "power dried", but I suppose it could also be due to other issues.

 

[Arnie Pye]

@Barry It would never have occurred to me to wonder if the dryers were to blame for a skin problem - I would simply have overlooked them. I've never heard of someone having that issue before. As someone who has had skin problems all my life I'd be interested in what the mechanism was behind your problem, if you ever find out.

 

[Barry]

@Barry It would never have occurred to me to wonder if the dryers were to blame for a skin problem - I would simply have overlooked them. I've never heard of someone having that issue before. As someone who has had skin problems all my life I'd be interested in what the mechanism was behind your problem, if you ever find out.

I've not pursued it now it's sorted. But the difference is dramatic. My knuckles were splitting in several places, each up to 5+mm long, and I would think 1-2mm deep, quite unpleasant. Defied all manner of creams I tried. Several months now since I stopped using the dryers and all fine. Although not a scientific trial by any means, I did enough experimenting to convince myself.