Germaphobes, prepare to feel sad.
If you quietly rejoice when you enter a bathroom because there’s a Dyson Airblade hand dryer – you’re not alone.
No messing around with damp towels, empty paper trays or waiting in line for a dryer that takes ten minutes to do the job.
However, a new study has shown that the Airblade might not be as majestic as we thought.
In fact, the super speedy machines could be blasting germs and bacteria all around the room, and might be responsible for the spreading of colds and flus.
A study published in The Journal of Applied Microbiology says that Dyson’s Airblades “spread 60 times more germs than standard air dryers, and 1,300 times more than standard paper towels”.
Researchers at the University of Westminster found that the jet propulsion system can fling germs more than three metres across a bathroom, whereas a standard hand dryer can only blast them 75 centimetres away.
Research lead Professor Mark Wilcox said: “Next time you dry your hands in a public toilet using an electric hand dryer, you may be spreading bacteria without knowing it. You may also be splattered with bugs from other people’s hands.”
However, in response to the study, Dyson released a statement to our bros at JOE, blaming the paper towel industry for spreading false research conducted in “artificial” and unrealistic circumstances.
Their statement reads:
The paper towel industry has scare mongered with this research for the past four years. It has been conducted under artificial conditions, using unrealistically high levels of virus contamination on unwashed, gloved hands. The Dyson Airblade™ hand dryer dries hands hygienically with HEPA filtered air in up to 12 seconds. The machine has been proven to be as hygienic as paper towels, through research conducted by the University of Bradford (published in the Journal of Applied Microbiology), Institut de Recherche Microbiologique, the College of Medicine (University of Florida), and Campden BRI. The Dyson Airblade™ hand dryers are the only hand dryers that have been globally certified hygienic by NSF P335 accreditation.
