The first time I became aware of the extent of bacteria in the atmosphere in the toilet area was when I was watching a program on new type of hand dryers that was coming to the market. The main advantage of the new hand dryers was that they didn't push the bacteria from your hand into the atmosphere instead your hands were dried in about half the time by high pressure air at an angle. When I actually listened to what was being said about millions of water droplets containing bacteria circulating in the air in the toilet as a result of a toilet being flushed or hands being dried it actually made perfect sense. He referred to it as the “aerosol effect”. One of the ways to counter act this was to put down the toilet seat before you flushed, what a simple idea.

Because we can't see the water droplets circulating in the air we are totally unaware of what's happening yet when we are told it makes perfect sense. One would wonder if the aerosol effect is of these facts that you might be better off not knowing because the thought of being in the same room as hundreds of millions of water droplets containing bacteria doesn't do the heart any good.

So why the thought of being in the same room as floating bacteria is not appealing to say the least we do know that it doesn't kill. Because if it did the human race would be extent as this phenomenon has been around for years. However it could be a source of contracting colds and flu's and maybe even the dreaded tummy bug, while I don't have access to a study confirming this but safe to say the more exposure to a high level of bacteria, the greater the chance of one contracting an infection, or at the very least it would make one think about it. Putting the toilet seat down when you flush is a no-brainer.

Understanding this phenomenon might explain why odours stay around for so long and why it is important to be able to counteract these smells especially in public areas. Also one can start to understand how it can be hard to contain infections especially in hospitals. When you look at some of the studies completed by Dr Charles P. Gerba the results are frightening. I read an article recently about a show that was done with Dr Charles Gerba about cleanliness in the office, suffice to say people were shocked when they saw the results. One quote from the report “We actually find more bacteria, 400 times more bacteria, on an average desktop than a toilet seat” this really shocked me. One would never have thought this to be true. I think we all would agree that the office desk area is one of the last places that gets a thorough clean. However I think that might change in the future.

It's important to be aware of these facts but it's also important not to get carried away because no matter where you will test you will always find bacteria.