Endemics can be lethal. Alleviating the spumes in toilets has become imperative. Are you dreaded with germ fear and spumes of bacteria that may cause diarrhea? Well, you may be right to be concerned. Studies have ascertained that, after usage of a toilet, flushing can cause numerous infectious diseases. Innumerably, the globules or droplets emanating from the water can get stirred up to 10 inches above the toilet seat after flushing. The bacteria that have been identified can be lethal health hazards, particularly one of them called C. Difficile – a treacherous germ known to cause diarrhea and fatal diseases.
Appallingly, the question asked is – is just a meagre plume sufficiently potent to cause a life-threatening disease and peril? Many conjectures and a review of the scientific literature are of the view that it is.
Although, there’s certainly a sigh of relief from the science, since researchers from the University of Oklahoma College of Public Health conclude that there is no evidence to prove that a disease has ever been transmitted in this way. Yet, the possibility can’t be disregarded or ruled out 100% because the studies alone are still inadequate and don’t really confirm anything.
In the American Journal of Infection Control, the Oklahoma scientists have written: “Research suggests that toilet plume could play a contributory role in the transmission of infectious diseases…. Additional research in multiple areas is warranted to assess the risks posed by toilet plume, especially within health care facilities.”
Woes and maladies are persistent and rampant in many parts of the world, and some still inhabit much, much worse conditions and carry on their daily struggle for survival with limited resources and finances. A Chinese family, for example, keeps their heads above water (as the saying goes) while living in a bathroom, a space just 6 square feet in size, with the intent and aspirations to give the best to their kid in the future. Their 13-year-old son is schooling and does his homework on a board hanging up next to the ceiling. “The family wound up in this cramped cell because, being rural migrants to the city, they’re not legally allowed to enroll their boy in a local school,” The Atlantic Cities writes. “So they took a municipal job to get an exception to this rule, plus free tuition, which can cost as much as $13,000 a year.”
The family uses buckets of water to shower in the handicapped stall of the bathroom. And apparently, rather than this being an odd case, this is the norm in many locations. They may have neighbors doing essentially the same thing. Back to the issue at hand: unhygienic toilets and endemics transmitted from them cause life-threatening diseases across the world, not even taking into account any concerns from spumes.
Technology Embraced To Alleviate Endemics In Urban Areas
The good news is that a variety of new strategies have been adopted to market the idea of hygienic and sensible usage of toilets in various parts of the world, with much success.
Particularly, in Europe, advertising has been proactive and innovative.
“Captive Media, a high-tech marketing firm in London, has installed video screens above urinals in a number of bars in Britain and Spain. When somebody walks up to heed the call of nature, the screens switch from showing advertisements into ‘game mode.’ Infrared sensors detect where the user’s stream of urine is going, and alter the action on the screens accordingly. In this way, somebody who just wanted to use the bathroom could wind up steering a skier down a mountainside infested by penguins. There’s also a game called ‘Artsplash’ involving coloring in a scene, and ‘Clever Dick,’ which challenged peers to answer trivia questions by picking answers with their wizz.”
In other words, the video game is entirely controlled by the person, without even touching the screen. Fun in the bathroom, all to create better hygien and a healthier population.
Sources: The Atlantic Cities & ABC News
Image: Toilet via Shutterstock