In article .ca,
Dave Balderstone wrote:

In article ,
veteran wrote:

I have heard that bacteria can travel 10 feet when the toilet is flushed.
didn't i hear of a study that proved that?

I heard about a recent study on the radio that pretty much debunked
that. Tooothbrushes were left in various rooms in the house and the
ones in the bathroom were among the cleanest.

There are several studies that show the effect to be real. Here are just
few provided by Google:

The following URL is the result of a Hong Kong study prompted by the
idea that flushing uncovered toilets could spread SARS (severe acute
respiratory syndrome). Scientists placed fluorescent dye in the toilet,
flushed it and shined a black light to see if there was any basis to the
notion. Go here to actually *see* the aerosol effect of flushing toilets:

http://www.ust.hk/~webiesd/Project.h...%20during%20to
ilet%20flushing

The next link is the story of a Bryn Mawr biology student's surprise
when she looked into the matter, which she always considered a silly
myth. On her website you can find links to the original study published
by Charles Gerba, a Univ. of Arizona environmental microbiologist. She
gives perhaps more information on the subject than you might want to
know (such as, it isn't just bacteria, it's virii and fungi, too; and
they can hang around in the air for as long as two hours after each
flush; and that hot air hand dryers are MUCH more unsanitary than paper
towels--they *increase* airborne bacteria levels 162% on average while
paper towels reduce handborne microbes by 29%):

http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/biology/b103/f02/web2/stan.html

Here's more info on the possibility of spreading SARS by flushing--from
a project of the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services:

http://www.4woman.gov/News/English/518500.htm


If you want to worry about bacteria, look at your kitchen sink and your
dish cloth.

This was Charles Gerba's conclusion, too. As a matter of fact...


If an alien were deciding on how to use the average house by doing
bacteria cultures, it would prepare food in the bathroom and crap in
your kitchen sink.

....you can read this view almost word-for-word in Gerba's 1975 published
report, although Gerba was comparing the relatively low infection
potential of an average toilet seat with the teeming petri-dish
conditions of an average kitchen sink, which Gerba found often to
maintain absolutely stunning levels of human coliform bacteria,
including e-coli strains. That's why the alien would think it was
supposed to eliminate in the kitchen sink.

Best advice: close the seat--remarkably, one of the most sanitary
surfaces in most bathrooms--and its cover before flushing and wash your
hands well afterward, especially when using public restrooms (many of
which have no seat covers).

Oh, and store your toothbrush °inside* the medicine cabinet.