Facility managers have long used air-based hand dryers in bathroom facilities as a cheap way of providing services; instead of constantly replacing paper towels, these managers sought cost-effective ways of providing sanitation

Spreading the germs

The trouble is, the whirling gusts of air actually provide more harm than good. For example, germs in bathrooms are carried much farther, settling on all surfaces, because they are pushed and circulated by the blasts of warm air provided by the hand dryers.

A study conducted by the University of Connecticut found that petri dishes exposed to the hot air from hand dryers in public restrooms grew up to 254 colonies of bacteria. The researchers theorized that flushing toilets created a fine mist of fecal microbes, which were recirculated by the dryers to an area of as much as 65 square feet

Damaging hearing?

There’s another, subtler problem with hand dryers. Recent research by the journal of the Canadian Paediatric Society concluded that a number of restroom hand dryer models operate at decibel levels that are dangerous to children’s hearing, with the potential to damage their ears.

The study was conducted by 13-year-old Nora Louise Keegan and drew on research she conducted since she was nine. The girl used professional decibel meters to track the levels of hand dryers in dozens of places in Alberta, Canada from 2015 to 2017, targeting locations children might frequent, like malls and parks. She even took sample readings at different heights to approximate the sizes of children and adults

She found that many models exceed 100 dBA, which approaches the noise level of a jackhammer. The research also validated previous studies that showed manufacturers were underreporting the decibel levels of their air dryer products.

Eliminate the germ problem

For many facility managers, removing the dryers is not an option. And while AeraMax Professional can’t help them with the decibel problem, we can tackle the spread of germs from air hand dryers. Our complete line of commercial-grade air purifiers effectively remove up to 99.97 percent of airborne contaminants, like bacteria, germs, allergens and viruses from enclosed spaces, like restrooms. What’s more, our four-stage filtration systems also remove odors from these enclosed spaces. So, installation of AeraMax Professional can be a great opportunity for facility managers.