# Fecal Molecular Inhalation - A Poll **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 18, 2008, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fecal-molecular-inhalation-a-poll/468532 "2008-10-18T16:58:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Clovernook](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ec9cab/32.png) [@Clovernook](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clovernook)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2008, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fecal-molecular-inhalation-a-poll/468532/1 "2008-10-18T16:58:54Z")
If you’ve ever walked into a multi-stalled bathroom at your office building, you know the dilemma to which I refer. The stench is overwhelming and rightly so, considering the purpose of the bathroom itself. You’re going to inhale someone else’s ass gas, regardless. The question is whether it is better/safer/more hygienic to do so through your nose (where you get the full body and flavor of the odor) or through the mouth (where it’s almost like you are swallowing someone else’s crap)? What is your preference? ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2008, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fecal-molecular-inhalation-a-poll/468532/2 "2008-10-18T17:20:56Z")
Do you leave your toothbrush out in the bathroom? If so, there is microbial fecal matter all over that as well. Mythbusters did an [episode](http://mythbusters-wiki.discovery.com/page/Toothbrush+Surprise?t=anon)on it. Blagh! ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2008, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fecal-molecular-inhalation-a-poll/468532/3 "2008-10-18T17:41:31Z")
I wait for it to dissipate. Otherwise, if I’m practically touching cloth and have to go right then, I’ll breathe through my shirt or a bit of toilet paper, queer as it might sound. To answer your question, I prefer the nose. At lease you have nose hairs and mucus to help and it’s not brushing by your tongue so much. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2008, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fecal-molecular-inhalation-a-poll/468532/4 "2008-10-19T00:37:22Z")
My favorite biology teacher in high school always loved making this point: > [@](#): > > Just remember, if you’re disgusted by the smell of someone’s poop, the fact that you can smell it means _it’s already inside you!_ ---
**Author:** ![MOIDALIZE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@MOIDALIZE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MOIDALIZE)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2008, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fecal-molecular-inhalation-a-poll/468532/5 "2008-10-19T00:49:40Z")
The first thing I do is spit out my gum. I don’t need to chew on it at the same time I’m breathing it in. ---
**Author:** ![Starbury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f04885/32.png) [@Starbury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starbury)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2008, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fecal-molecular-inhalation-a-poll/468532/6 "2008-10-19T01:02:10Z")
> [@Phlosphr](#): > > Mythbusters did an [episode](http://mythbusters-wiki.discovery.com/page/Toothbrush+Surprise?t=anon)on it. Blagh! [Cecil did, too](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1317/does-flushing-the-toilet-cause-dirty-water-to-be-spewed-around-the-bathroom), and came up with some unexpected results. From the Straight Dope article: > [@](#): > > [T]he bathroom was hardly the most dangerous part of the house, microbe-wise. The real pesthole: the kitchen sponge or dishcloth, where fecal coliform bacteria from raw meat and such could fester in a damp, nurturing (for a germ) environment. Next came the kitchen sink, the bathroom sink, and the kitchen faucet handle. The toilet seat was the least contaminated of 15 household locales studied. “If an alien came from space and studied the bacterial counts,” the professor says, “he probably would conclude he should wash his hands in your toilet and crap in your sink.” ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2008, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fecal-molecular-inhalation-a-poll/468532/7 "2008-10-19T04:41:13Z")
I don’t worry about this at all. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2008, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fecal-molecular-inhalation-a-poll/468532/8 "2008-10-19T04:53:25Z")
> [@Starbury](#): > > [Cecil did, too](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1317/does-flushing-the-toilet-cause-dirty-water-to-be-spewed-around-the-bathroom), and came up with some unexpected results. From the Straight Dope article: But, of course, this thread is asking about the stuff that _floats around_ the toilet, not the toilet itself. ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2008, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fecal-molecular-inhalation-a-poll/468532/9 "2008-10-19T16:02:39Z")
> [@Clovernook](#): > > What is your preference? Go down the hall to another restroom. ---
**Author:** ![kidchameleon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/898d66/32.png) [@kidchameleon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidchameleon)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2008, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fecal-molecular-inhalation-a-poll/468532/10 "2008-10-19T19:39:27Z")
Eh, I’ve smelt worse and breathed in far worse. ---
**Author:** ![Vox\_Imperatoris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Vox\_Imperatoris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vox_Imperatoris)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2008, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fecal-molecular-inhalation-a-poll/468532/11 "2008-10-20T05:28:10Z")
It’s not like it’s dangerous, so I’d rather breathe it in through my mouth and not have to smell it. Valete, Vox Imperatoris ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2008, 10:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fecal-molecular-inhalation-a-poll/468532/12 "2008-10-20T10:13:45Z")
Breath deep the gasseous vent Smell of shit from asses bent