Do Not Flush With Your Foot: Ineffective “tricks” to Prevent Germs
If you hover over a seat, flush the toilet with your foot, or use a paper towel to avoid touching the doorknob with freshly washed hands, germs are likely to follow you home anyway. However, this is normal: germs in the bathroom are unlikely to make you nauseous.
Atlantic ‘s CityLab spoke to two biologists about common fetal avoidance behaviors, and found many of them pointless. To name a few:
- By flushing the toilet with your foot, you can avoid getting germs on your hands, but weren’t you going to wash your hands? Even if there was some deadly germ on the flush handle, it would still roll on your shoes (and on the floor of your house).
- Hovering over the toilet seat not only increases the risk of leaving puddles for the next person, but it also won’t protect you from anything.The toiletseats aren’t all that dirty , but when you flush the water, some of that eau de toilette sprinkles on you almost imperceptibly, whether you’re in the air or not.
- Using a paper towel to open the door after you’ve washed your hands sounds good, but if you just crumple the towel later (and especially if you put it in your pocket later) germs will still get on your hands. …
The good news is that germs in the bathroom are not a real health hazard; Germs are everywhere in your life, and those found in bathrooms are not much more numerous and dangerous than others. Experts who spoke with CityLab agreed that the best way to stay away from cold and flu germs (the most likely threats anywhere) is to wash your hands, avoid touching your face, and support your immune system by not smoking, exercising, and eating. … and sleep well.
8 Useless Things People Do To Avoid Germs | CityLab
Photo by m01229 .
Vitals is a new blog from Lifehacker dedicated to health and fitness. Follow us on Twitter here .