Flushing with the can lid open can make you sick

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snapcap
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02 Jan 2012, 2:05 pm

...and the contents will get on your toothbrush :eew:

Flushing Can Spread Diarrhea

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Flushing the toilet with the lid up can spray diarrhea-causing bacteria into the air, according to a new study of hospital toilets.
Researchers from Leeds Teaching Hospitals in the U.K. detected C. difficile - a germ that can cause diarrhea and even life-threatening inflammation of the colon - nearly 10 inches above the toilet seat after flushing lidless hospital toilets. C. difficile is frequently found in hospitals and long-term care facilities were antibiotics are common.


I think I remember an episode of Myth Busters that tested whether poo poo butter can be eject into the air and land on things like your toothbrush, if you didn't keep the seat down. I didn't need to wait for this study to find out.


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Last edited by snapcap on 02 Jan 2012, 2:19 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Moog
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02 Jan 2012, 2:17 pm

'Poo poo butter'?

I always keep the lid down when not using the toilet, it's good feng shui. Stops crocodiles from invading the house too.


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snapcap
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02 Jan 2012, 2:21 pm

Moog wrote:
'Poo poo butter'?

I always keep the lid down when not using the toilet, it's good feng shui. Stops crocodiles from invading the house too.


I think the important part is keeping it down while you flush.


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Moog
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02 Jan 2012, 2:21 pm

snapcap wrote:
Moog wrote:
'Poo poo butter'?

I always keep the lid down when not using the toilet, it's good feng shui. Stops crocodiles from invading the house too.


I think the important part is keeping it down while you flush.


That's a good idea too.


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OneStepBeyond
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02 Jan 2012, 2:42 pm

when i was little my mum used to flush whilst i was still sitting on it to freak me out, it worked D:
now i have a mild fear of automatic flushes



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02 Jan 2012, 2:47 pm

poo poo butter sounds dangerous

OneStepBeyond wrote:
when i was little my mum used to flush whilst i was still sitting on it to freak me out, it worked D:
now i have a mild fear of automatic flushes


:lol:


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snapcap
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02 Jan 2012, 2:53 pm

OneStepBeyond wrote:
when i was little my mum used to flush whilst i was still sitting on it to freak me out, it worked D:
now i have a mild fear of automatic flushes


I have visited friends in a high-rise public housing building, and their toilets are terrifying. Flushing it sounded like a explosion, and the flushing handle was the detonator. I'm sure if you didn't leave the seat down, you'd infect a 50 meter radius with diarrhea germs and possibly shards of porcelain.


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thedaywalker
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02 Jan 2012, 3:45 pm

anything can cause sicknis



johansen
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03 Jan 2012, 3:39 am

snapcap wrote:
OneStepBeyond wrote:
when i was little my mum used to flush whilst i was still sitting on it to freak me out, it worked D:
now i have a mild fear of automatic flushes


I have visited friends in a high-rise public housing building, and their toilets are terrifying. Flushing it sounded like a explosion, and the flushing handle was the detonator. I'm sure if you didn't leave the seat down, you'd infect a 50 meter radius with diarrhea germs and possibly shards of porcelain.


its just the brand of toilet they used. the black water pipes that toilets and urinals flush into are not held at negative pressure! so what you might have discovered in the case of a urinal is the nominal water pressure was in the range of 100-150 psi, so it would come out twice as fast as normal. a normal 1.6 gallon toilet wouldn't be any different because it remains a gravity flush.



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03 Jan 2012, 8:16 am

I generally keep the toilet seat down anyway (because the cat will drink out of it if I don't) and I tend to shut it again before I flush. I sort of sensed that the spray from the flushing tends to spread things, but I'm glad that there is a study for it too.


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jojobean
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03 Jan 2012, 10:50 am

ya it only makes sense to me to close the lid b4 flushing...plus I also keep the lid down to keep the dog out. She thinks it is her secondary water bowl...ewww

Jojo


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03 Jan 2012, 12:07 pm

I always sit on the toilet even while urinating as I don't want to splash anywhere I shouldn't. We've all seen how messy some men can be. :roll:
I don't close the lid when flushing but I do steep my toothbrush in a bleach solution every other day and thoroughly clean my entire bathroom every day.

Things that DO concern me are using communal tools in self serve places: e.g. salad bars, bakery products and the like in supermarkets. Who knows exactly that every pair of hands that have used those tongs were washed that day or even week. :D


Yours Cosmic'HowardHughes'Russ



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03 Jan 2012, 12:40 pm

Let's bear a couple of things in mind:

1) Gravity flush toilets found in homes are a different matter than pressure flush toilets found in commercial settings.

2) The bacteria found in and around your toilet at home are coming from the people who are in your home--people with whom you are already sharing a significant number of bacteria.

There's nothing wrong with putting the lid down to flush--but there is no health rationale for doing so. (And there's nothing wrong with your pet using it as a water source, provided that you are cleaning it regularly).


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03 Jan 2012, 12:47 pm

CosmicRuss wrote:
Yours Cosmic'HowardHughes'Russ


:lol:


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snapcap
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03 Jan 2012, 1:05 pm

visagrunt wrote:
Let's bear a couple of things in mind:

2) The bacteria found in and around your toilet at home are coming from the people who are in your home--people with whom you are already sharing a significant number of bacteria.

There's nothing wrong with putting the lid down to flush--but there is no health rationale for doing so. (And there's nothing wrong with your pet using it as a water source, provided that you are cleaning it regularly).


I get sick a lot less now that I live alone. People do share bacteria with the other people they live with, but there are many instances where they share too much of it. When I lived with my parents, if one person got sick, it would affect everyone else like wildfire.

I'm not a clean freak by any means, but I think there are ways to minimize the time you are sick, and putting the toilet seat down before you flush could be one way to minimize it. Like I said, I don't get sick nearly as often, even though my workplace is a very nasty place. All that has changed was my home environment.

Plus, I don't like the idea of flying poo poo butter getting on my toothbrush. You can't polish a turd, so how is a turd going to polish your ivories?


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OneStepBeyond
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03 Jan 2012, 1:54 pm

CosmicRuss wrote:
I don't close the lid when flushing but I do steep my toothbrush in a bleach solution every other day


is that normal? not sure if i'd rather have bleach or poo particles on my toothbrush