Air hand dryers should be 'banned' say scientists as study finds they spread five times more germs than using a paper towel

Air hand dryers should be banned from hospital toilets because they blow bacteria around the room, scientists say.

Using paper towels significantly reduces the risk of germs being spread between sick patients, warn University of Leeds researchers.

They found high levels of dangerous bacteria that cause blood poisoning, pneumonia and gastroenteritis when dryers were used.

Writing in the Journal of Hospital Infection, they called for the dryers – which can leave up to five times as much bacteria on the floor as paper towels – to be taken out of hospitals.

Study leader Professor Mark Wilcox, an expert in medical microbiology at Leeds, said: 'The problem starts because some people do not wash their hands properly.

'When people use a jet-air dryer, the microbes get blown off and spread around the toilet room. In effect, the dryer creates an aerosol that contaminates the toilet room, including the dryer itself and potentially the sinks, floor and other surfaces, depending on the dryer design and where it is sited. 

'If people touch those surfaces, they risk becoming contaminated by bacteria or viruses.

'Jet-air dryers often rely on no-touch technology to initiate hand drying. However, paper towels absorb the water and microbes left on the hands and if they are disposed of properly, there is less potential for cross-contamination.'

The Department of Health already restricts air dryers in toilets in hospital wards and other clinical areas – but this is because of noise rather than safety. So they are still allowed in hospital public areas, putting patients and visitors at risk.

The research team looked at two toilets in each of three hospitals in the UK, France and Italy.

Each of the toilets had paper towel dispensers and air dryers, but only one of these was in use on any given day. 

On each day, over 12 weeks, levels of bacterial contamination in the toilets were measured, allowing comparisons to be made between the effects of paper towels and air dryers. 

The scientists found five times more bacteria on the floor when air dryers were in use compared to paper towels, and significantly more in the air, dust and surfaces of the room.

The bugs included E. coli, which causes gastroenteritis and pneumonia; staphylococcus aureus, which is responsible for wound infections and blood poisoning; and enterococci, which cause difficult-to-treat infections, particularly in patients undergoing chemotherapy.

Professor Wilcox said: 'We found multiple examples of greater bacterial contamination on surfaces, including by faecal and antibiotic-resistant bacteria, when jet-air dryers rather than paper towels were in use. Choice of hand-drying method affects how likely microbes can spread, and so possibly the risk of infection.'

The study was funded by the European Tissue Symposium, a trade organisation representing companies that manufacture paper towels.

However, the researchers insisted the findings were independently conceived, designed, conducted and interpreted, and peer-reviewed by experts.

A 2016 University of Westminster study found one extra-powerful modern hand dryer model was capable of circulating viruses up to 9ft across a bathroom – and spread 60 times more bugs than an old-fashioned warm-air model.