Dyson Airblade hand-dryers spread 60 times more germs than standard air dryers: Study
14 Apr 2016
A research published in the Journal of Applied Microbiology has revealed that Dyson Airblade hand-dryers spread 60 times more germs than standard air dryers, and 1,300 times more than standard paper towels.
According to the research, Dyson dryer's delivering 690km/h blasts of air were capable of spreading viruses up to 3m across a bathroom.
The standard drier spread viruses only 75 cm and the hand towels 25 cm.
The Dyson dryer uses ''sheets'' of air to dry hands and the company claims they were actually more hygienic.
A Dyson spokesperson, however told the Herald Sun that they believed the research had been conducted under artificial conditions and that it was flawed - using unrealistically high levels of virus contamination on unwashed, gloved hands.''
The study was conducted by the University of Westminster.
According to The Telegraph, researchers dipped their hands in water containing a harmless virus and then dried them with the Dyson Airblade, a standard hot-air dryer and paper towels. Following each drying method, they analysed the bathroom for the virus.
The Dyson dryer, which dried one's hands by blasting them with air at 430 mph, spread the virus up to three meters across the bathroom, while the standard dryer spread the virus 75 cm. The paper hand towels contained the virus within 25 cm.
In a study conducted in 2014 by the University of Leeds and funded by the European Tissue Symposium bacteria concentration was found to be 27 times higher around jet air dryers as compared to paper towel dispensers.
According to the lead researcher of that study, professor Mark Wilcox:
''Next time you dry your hands in a public toilet using an electric hand dryer, you may be spreading bacteria without knowing it. You may also be splattered with bugs from other people's hands.
''These findings are important for understanding the ways in which bacteria spread, with the potential to transmit illness and disease.''
