# Flush carefully. Study suggests coronavirus could spread in spray from toilet.



## Becky1951 (Jun 17, 2020)

"Here's a good reason to put the lid down before you flush: a new computer modeling study shows how a flushing toilet can send a cloud of little particles containing fecal matter into the air -- fecal matter that could carry coronavirus."
https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/16/health/flush-toilet-spray-coronavirus-wellness-trnd/index.html


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## asp3 (Jun 17, 2020)

One of the reasons I'll be avoiding public facilities as much as possible since most of them do not have toilet lids.


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## Warrigal (Jun 17, 2020)

There are only two people in our house and we sleep in the same bed so I am terribly not worried about passing the virus between us via the toilet.  If one of us becomes infected, we both will. The main aim is to be very careful when we leave the house using appropriate hygiene and observing social distancing.


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## win231 (Jun 17, 2020)

Or, just wear a mask when flushing.


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## Ronni (Jun 17, 2020)

Ron and I share the same bed and bathroom, but because Sheri and the kids still live in the house and have their own bathroom I made a very specific point some time back about insisting that we not use each other’s bathrooms, once I became aware of the virus’ ability to spread through aerosols.
It very seldom happens anyway that the bathrooms are shared, but I wanted to make sure to raise awareness on this point.


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## Sunny (Jun 17, 2020)

My son remarked to me that when he is forced to use a public toilet, after washing his hands, he refuses to use the air dryer that is mounted on the wall, for the same reason. It blows particles all around the room.  I never would have thought of that.

Either he brings his own paper towel, or leaves with his hands wet.


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## JaniceM (Jun 17, 2020)

Sunny said:


> My son remarked to me that when he is forced to use a public toilet, after washing his hands, he refuses to use the air dryer that is mounted on the wall, for the same reason. It blows particles all around the room.  I never would have thought of that.
> 
> Either he brings his own paper towel, or leaves with his hands wet.


Long ago, a friend told me that was the main reason she always wore stylish long dresses-  so she could dry her hands without using the air dryers.


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## Rosemarie (Jun 17, 2020)

This advice has been around for a while. Apparently particles can land on your toothbrush which are then transferred to your mouth...another of those little things we don't stop to think about.


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## Don M. (Jun 17, 2020)

We are exposed to any number of "pollutants" virtually every day.  About the Only way to avoid such would be to lock oneself into a sterile cubicle, and consume nothing but distilled water.  That's why we have an Immune System, and anyone who is basically healthy, and practices a reasonable  amount of hygiene should have little fear of what we have to face every day. 

This coronavirus has injected another level of concern, but again, following some simple additional rules should minimize the exposure.  If some of the predictions turn out to be true, we can probably expect that half, or more, of us will be exposed to this virus, before a solution is found.  The trick will be to NOT be among that half.


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## Treacle (Jun 17, 2020)

Absolute hygiene is crucial to avoid passing on any 'nasties'. Certainly toilet seats should always be closed before flushing because of spray . Maintaining a healthy immune system is essential to fight off the 'nasties'. But my English grandmother, my mother was Austrian so she may have had a different view, had a saying - you have to peck a picker or two. It was something like that and I can't find what it really was as it maybe a cockney saying but I think the point she was making was that we can overuse all different  types of cleaning agents e.g anti-- bacterial sprays, wipes, disinfectants  etc etc that do not allow our bodies to cope with some 'nasties'.  Given Covid 19 we really need to pay greater attention to keeping ourselves and others protected , I  fully understand that, it's a no brainer, but I guess the point I'm making is about our immune systems. Has our immune system  got weaker because of all the other things we have used in the past.  Just a thought.  ☺


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## C'est Moi (Jun 17, 2020)

I like to live on the edge, so I'll continue to flush in my normal life-threatening fashion.  Usually no one is in the bathroom with me so I'll escape the murder charge.   Our toilet in the master bath is in a little room by itself, so my toothbrushes are safe on the other side of the door.   I have never in my life put the lid down to flush and I certainly do not plan to begin.


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## Treacle (Jun 17, 2020)

C'est Moi said:


> I like to live on the edge, so I'll continue to flush in my normal life-threatening fashion.  Usually no one is in the bathroom with me so I'll escape the murder charge.   Our toilet in the master bath is in a little room by itself, so my toothbrushes are safe on the other side of the door.   I have never in my life put the lid down to flush and I certainly do not plan to begin.


If it's right for you and you won't be up on a murder charge and you want to live life on the edge , good for you. I hope I didn't, by implication, seem judgemental. It's not my 'style'


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## C'est Moi (Jun 17, 2020)

Treacle said:


> If it's right for you and you won't be up on a murder charge and you want to live life on the edge , good for you. I hope I didn't, by implication, seem judgemental. It's not my 'style'


FYI, unless I quote what you said I am not responding to you, but to the "OP" (original post) in the thread.   Welcome to the forum.


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## Treacle (Jun 17, 2020)

C'est Moi said:


> FYI, unless I quote what you said I am not responding to you, but to the "OP" (original post) in the thread.   Welcome to the forum.


Thank you


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## win231 (Jun 17, 2020)

Treacle said:


> Absolute hygiene is crucial to avoid passing on any 'nasties'. Certainly toilet seats should always be closed before flushing because of spray . Maintaining a healthy immune system is essential to fight off the 'nasties'. But my English grandmother, my mother was Austrian so she may have had a different view, had a saying - you have to peck a picker or two. It was something like that and I can't find what it really was as it maybe a cockney saying but I think the point she was making was that we can overuse all different  types of cleaning agents e.g anti-- bacterial sprays, wipes, disinfectants  etc etc that do not allow our bodies to cope with some 'nasties'.  Given Covid 19 we really need to pay greater attention to keeping ourselves and others protected , I  fully understand that, it's a no brainer, but I guess the point I'm making is about our immune systems. Has our immune system  got weaker because of all the other things we have used in the past.  Just a thought.  ☺


Your grandmother was wise.


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## Lakeland living (Jun 17, 2020)

So to all those that like to watch their dropping swirl, stop watching and stand clear.


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## win231 (Jun 17, 2020)

It's always amusing to me when we're told that the way we've been doing something for 40 or 50 years is risky or wrong, even though it has never caused us any harm.
I've never heard of an epidemic caused by open-lid flushing.

I'm currently working on an invention to keep all of us safe (and make me rich.)  It's a 25-foot-long-flusher so we can be a safe distance away from the deadly contents of that bowl.


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## Warrigal (Jun 17, 2020)

Anything that has come from my own gut or kidneys is not going to make me sick. If I'm not sick already, then I am immune to my own gut bacteria. I wash my hands to protect other people.


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## fmdog44 (Jun 17, 2020)

About 8 years ago this toilet spray was brought about about men's public urinals.
Astronauts drink their own pee (yes, it is purified)


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## Warrigal (Jun 17, 2020)

I grew up in a house that was not connected to the sewer. The loo was down a pathway behind the house and the 'dunny man' came once a week to take away the full pan and leave a disinfected empty one.

Leaving the lid down was essential to avoid the contents becoming fly blown. We solved that problem with a dash of kerosene on the surface. Not a good idea to throw your bumpers in.
As kids we didn't always wash our hands after relieving ourselves because the bathroom was up in the house. Too much trouble. Mum didn't insist on it either, not even before meals.

Can't remember much trouble with the gut considering how germy we all were in those days.


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## treeguy64 (Jun 18, 2020)

I have always avoided public restrooms, the only places this toilet lid advice would seem to make sense. In the rare instances I have used them, I have held my breath when flushing, and not taken a breath until I was out of the restroom. 

The facts and warnings about aerosolized pathogens from toilet flushing have been around for decades.


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## Kadee (Jun 18, 2020)

I grew up in Broken Hill @Warrigal so I know what you mean about the toilet  down the back yard
and you didn’t mention allot of us used newspaper ,that was handled by who knows how many before being cut into squares then hung on a rusty nail in the toilet with millions of flies in summer.

We had  a chook ( chicken )  house right next to the toilet as well .....Oh my it’s a wonder we didn’t die of a combination of diseases

We used phenyl in our toilets, it was thick black very strong smelling stuff that turned a whitish colour when added to water

There was 8 children and we all bathed in the same water ( once a week ) that has been boiled in the  old copper out in the  back yard , I don’t even remember going to a Dr during my childhood or any of the other
kids going to one either


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## Warrigal (Jun 18, 2020)

Yes, we too had newspaper squares hanging on a nail in the outhouse***. So did most other people except some people posh enough to have a telephone. They had squares cut from the old telephone directories. Real bong tong, you know.

*** Notice how polite I was calling it an outhouse?


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## Kadee (Jun 18, 2020)

Warrigal said:


> Yes, we too had newspaper squares hanging on a nail in the outhouse***. So did most other people except some people posh enough to have a telephone. They had squares cut from the old telephone directories. Real bong tong, you know.
> 
> *** Notice how polite I was calling it an outhouse?


We called it the dunny ..  When we visited our Grandmother we’d have to shooo chooks out of the dunny to use it


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## Warrigal (Jun 18, 2020)

Dunny here too but sometimes called the thunderbox. The chooks were not a problem although one pet one who was lame was allowed the run of the yard. She sometimes had to be shoo'd out of the house. The outhouse had its eight legged inhabitants and of course there was no light at night. We took the hurricane lamp with us after dark.


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## Ronni (Jun 18, 2020)

Warrigal said:


> Anything that has come from my own gut or kidneys is not going to make me sick. If I'm not sick already, then I am immune to my own gut bacteria. I wash my hands to protect other people.


Of course it's not!

I think this has more to do with using a communal or shared bathroom.


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## Pinky (Jun 18, 2020)

Kadee46 said:


> I grew up in Broken Hill @Warrigal so I know what you mean about the toilet  down the back yard
> and you didn’t mention allot of us used newspaper ,that was handled by who knows how many before being cut into squares then hung on a rusty nail in the toilet with millions of flies in summer.
> 
> We had  a chook ( chicken )  house right next to the toilet as well .....Oh my it’s a wonder we didn’t die of a combination of diseases
> ...


The cut-up newspapers must have been international .. we used them too. Also, never went to doctors.


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## treeguy64 (Jun 18, 2020)

Newspaper squares? Yow! Hemorrhoids need retreading? Here, have a square!


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## JaniceM (Jun 18, 2020)

treeguy64 said:


> Newspaper squares? Yow! Hemorrhoids need retreading? Here, have a square!


Could it be worse than the Sears-Roebuck catalog some folks used in outhouses long ago?


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## win231 (Jun 18, 2020)

Warrigal said:


> There are only two people in our house and we sleep in the same bed so I am terribly not worried about passing the virus between us via the toilet.  If one of us becomes infected, we both will. The main aim is to be very careful when we leave the house using appropriate hygiene and observing social distancing.


Interesting choice of words - "The main aim."


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## Sunny (Jun 21, 2020)

I've never heard of putting the lid down before flushing, until now!  I wonder if there are any real studies on how much illness is caused this way. Unless I read a lot more about how dangerous this is, I am not about to change my lifelong habits.


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