# Airbourne Toilet Germs

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airbourne-toilet-germs/424210>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [October 27, 2007, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airbourne-toilet-germs/424210 "2007-10-27T07:54:41Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![bbreezeg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/df705f/32.png) [@bbreezeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bbreezeg)\
**Post date:** [October 27, 2007, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airbourne-toilet-germs/424210/1 "2007-10-27T07:54:41Z")

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I’m sure most everyone has heard that when a toilet is flushed, microscopic droplets of toilet water is released into the air via the “sneeze effect”. Of course an easy way to combat this is to simply close the lid before flushing. However, I don’t live alone and it’s hard to get everyone to do it.

My question is, do products such as Oust, which claims to kill airbourne bacteria, work in this situation?

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**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\
**Post date:** [October 27, 2007, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airbourne-toilet-germs/424210/2 "2007-10-27T09:00:13Z")

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Mythbusters did a test on this. They took samples from all over Jamie’s shop. They didn’t test Oust or other similar products. Not surprisingly, they found bacteria in all parts of the bathroom. What was a bit surprising was that they found similar levels of bacteria pretty much wherever they tested. The conclusion was that it doesn’t do much good to worry about the bathroom. You are exposed to bacteria pretty much everywhere.

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**Author:** ![ChrisBooth12](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@ChrisBooth12](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChrisBooth12)\
**Post date:** [October 27, 2007, 9:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airbourne-toilet-germs/424210/3 "2007-10-27T09:04:23Z")

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I would not worry about it. Germs are actually good for you they make your immune system better. And besides i think you should be more worried about the door handle

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**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\
**Post date:** [October 27, 2007, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airbourne-toilet-germs/424210/4 "2007-10-27T15:05:59Z")

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[QUOTE=ChrisBooth12]  
I would not worry about it. Germs are actually good for you they make your immune system better. And besides i think you should be more worried about the door handle  
[/QUOTE]

Well, not all germs make the immune system better - some kick your ass and give you nasty diseases in the process. However, if you’re talking about a home toilet, close the lid before flushing if you want to avoid those droplets spraying everywhere.

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**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\
**Post date:** [October 27, 2007, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airbourne-toilet-germs/424210/5 "2007-10-27T19:55:42Z")

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Though Cecil doesn’t really answer the OP’s question, his column “[Does flushing the toilet cause dirty water to be spewed around the bathroom?](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a990416.html)” is probably worth linking to here anyway.