Fungi Spread Affected By Distance From Hand Dryer

Abstract

Hand dryers are commonly installed and used in public washrooms as an alternative to paper towel dispensers, often with the intention of being more environmentally friendly. However, they also have the potential to widely distribute fungi around the washroom environment, which may deposit onto surfaces and get carried from place to place. Using a bread model, this study investigated whether distance from a hand dryer affects the amount of fungi dispersed onto a surface while the hand dryer is running. Various species of mould growth, including Penicillium expansum and Aspergillus flavus, were observed amongst the bread slices. The percent coverage of mould growth on bread slices was tracked over an observational period of 11 days, and an average growth rate for each treatment distance from the hand dryer (n = 4) was calculated. A one-way ANOVA was performed, and determined that differences in growth rate between varied distances from the hand dryer were statistically insignificant (p = 0.1216). There is no difference in the amount of fungi dispersed onto a surface with different distances away from the hand dryer.