In a separate study, scientists found that petri dishes exposed to bathroom air hand dryers grew significantly more colonies of bacteria. Many health-care and restaurant settings are moving away from hand dryers and offering paper towels instead. Air dryers that dry hands through evaporation circulate less bacteria than the high-speed jet dryers. The ideal option, Shapiro said, is the single-use paper towels dispensers that use motion sensors, so no touching of surfaces is required. So if the jet dryer is the only option, use it.

Source: Washington Post March 13, 2020 18:47 UTC