Caution: DON'T Dry your Hands with DRYER!!!

An advertorial caught my attention yesterday. The topic of the advertorial is "Hand Dryers are full of hot air... and bacteria". This advertorial was advertised in Sunday Star, 18th October 2009.

This advertorial had educated me "Say NO" to electirc hand dryers and hand wash in the public toilets. Even if I needed to use the hand wash provided by the public toilets, I will then sanitised my hand again to minimise the bacteria on my hands.



Contents in the advertorial Hand drying is an important part of hand hygiene. How you dry your hands after handwashing can determine the level of bacteria on your hands. Paper towels significantly reduce the numbers of bacteria on the hands after drying, in contrast with electric dryers.
Source: New evidence suggests electric hand dryers in public toilets pose health risk. (2009). Retrieved February 17, 2009, from http://www.europeantissue.com/item.aspx?id=308

Micro-organisms from drying device

1. Paper towel - Contamination from using paper towels was limited to being directly below the dispenser, demonstrating no significant spread of micro-organism.
2. Warm air dryer - Traditional warm air dryer spread micro-organisms up to 25cm from the dryer, creating some level of contamination risk.
3. Jet air dryer - The jet air dryer can blow micro-organisms from the hands and unit up to 2m away, which has the potential to contaminate other washroom users and the washroom environment. The air is ejected through the unit at 640kph - it has to go somewhere! Due to the design of the dryer, no contamination was found directly under the unit.

Finding: Paper towels demonstrate no significant spread of micro-organism as opposed to electric dryers.
Source: New evidence suggests electric hand dryers in public toilets pose health risk. (2009). Retrieved February 17, 2009, from http://www.europeantissue.com/item.aspx?id=308

Research shows 1 in 4 bulk fill liquid soap dispenser contained dangerous levels of bacterial contamination. Sealed soap dispensing systems are the solution.

Washing hands with soap and water is a universally accepted method to reduce bacteria on hands. According to Dr. Charles P. Gerba, a prominent microbiologist who conducted liquid hand soaps study collected from public restroom across United States, pathogens found in bacteria contaminants in these bulk soaps can cause skin and respiratory infections.

In Dr. Gerba's study, no bacterial contamination was found in enclosed / sealed soap refill system.

• 25% of refillable soap contained unsaf levels of bacterial contamination.
• 65% of bacterial was identified as coliforms, which are bacteria abundant in the faces of warm-blooded animals.
• 0% of bacteria detected in dispensers with sealed / enclosed soap replacements.

Source: Gerba, C.Pet al, Bacterial Contamination of Liquid Hand Soaps. Unpublishes Study, 2006, University of Arizona. http://www.germcentral.com/reports-publications/germ-central-DrGerba_0106_letter.pdf

Should you be interested to get further details, as being advertised in the advertorial, you can email to kcp.mktsg@kcc.com or call Kimberly-Clark Professional at +603 - 7803 2212.

I hope my readers had learned something new after reading this article. I did myself!