Think you don't
need to worry about COVID-19 while using a public restroom? A group of
researchers from Yangzhou University in China recently reported that flushing
public restroom toilets can release clouds of virus-laden aerosols for you to
potentially inhale and flushing urinals does likewise.
The researchers tracked
virus-laden particle movements when urinals are flushed.
The researchers'
work clearly shows public restrooms can be dangerous places for potentially
becoming infected from a virus, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Other
work has shown that both feces- and urine-based virus transmission is possible.
Flushing a urinal,
much like flushing a toilet, involves an interaction between gas and liquid
interfaces. The result of the flushing causes a large spread of aerosol
particles to be released from the urinal. This has been simulated and tracked.
What the
simulations revealed is disturbing. The trajectory of the tiny particles
ejected by flushing a urinal manifests an external spread type, with more than
57% of the particles traveling away from the urinal. When men use urinals within a public
restroom, these tiny particles can reach their thigh within 5.5 seconds when
compared to the toilet flush, which takes 35 seconds to reach slightly higher.
Particles from urinals also show a more violent climbing tendency.
Urinals are used
more frequently within densely populated areas, and the researchers point out
that particles will travel faster and farther, which poses a serious public
health challenge.
This work
underscores how important it is to wear a mask within public places but
especially restrooms.
See:
Ji-Xiang Wang, Yun-Yun Li, Xiang-Dong Liu, Xiang Cao. Virus transmission from urinals. Physics of Fluids, 2020; 32 (8): 081703 DOI: 10.1063/5.0021450
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