Hand Dryer Hygiene

At Prestige Distribution, we are always trying to find ways to help better educate the importance of hygiene. In this blog, we want to share helpful information regarding a common product we have probably all used, and that is hand dryers.  

You may have come across recent news about hand dryers blowing fecal matter on people’s hands. These published articles with “clickbait” style headlines are based on a study performed by the University of Connecticut. We want to help set the record straight about hand dryers since hand dryers are one of our top selling products here at Prestige.

A quick overview of the UCONN Study:

• Peter Setlow, a microbiologist and one of the authors of the paper, studies spores of the benign bacterial species Bacillus subtilis he produces in mass quantities to aid in his research.
• He and his team were curious to see if these spores traveled throughout his facility and conducted a test in a UCONN restroom to study the air movement within the building.
• Despite studying a restroom, where one might expect a spore count to be quite high, the spore counts were relatively low; 16, in fact, only 4 of which were organic and ‘could possibly’ be fecal matter. Numbers in the hundreds or thousands would be statistically significant and potentially worrisome, not the teens.
• The study found that “interior hand dryer nozzle surfaces had minimal bacterial levels.”
• In no way was the study intended to study or identify fecal matter. Yet, the media sensationalized their reports, writing stories it in a manner for them to go viral, illicit fear, or both.

Quotes from the study authors about the findings:

Peter Setlow, study author, states that he: 

“doesn’t find the findings particularly worrisome. Microbes, after all, are everywhere, and hand dryers aren’t making anyone sick as far as science can tell.”

Thomas Murray, a pediatrician at Connecticut Children’s Medical Center and co-author of the paper, says that...

“In general, the findings don’t present enough of a concern for everyone to switch to using paper towels. Although there may be more bacteria floating around the air, most of these potential pathogens are no match for a healthy human immune system”.

Fast Facts and Talking Points About Bacteria:

• Bacteria is practically everywhere, but most types cannot make people sick. 

• Over 40 trillion bacteria can be found on the average male. This represents a ratio of 1:3 bacteria to every human cell! .

• Not all bacteria is bad.

• You may be eating bacteria right now—in milk, cheese, yogurt, bread, or more.

• Bacteria and germs are more likely to settle on flat surfaces than on hands.

Rest assured: sensor-activated, no-touch, hands-under, high-speed, energy-efficient hand drying is a sanitary method for drying hands after washing.

Hand Dryers are hygienic: