Flushing the Toilet May Fling Coronavirus Aerosols All Over – The New York Times

Here s one more behavior to be hyper-aware of in order to prevent coronavirus transmission: what you do after you use the toilet.

Scientists have found that in addition to clearing out whatever business you ve left behind, flushing a toilet can generate a cloud of aerosol droplets that rises nearly three feet. Those droplets may linger in the air long enough to be inhaled by a shared toilet s next user, or land on surfaces in the bathroom.

This toilet plume isn t just gross. In simulations, it can carry infectious coronavirus particles that are already present in the surrounding air or recently shed in a person s stool. The research, published Tuesday in the journal Physics of Fluids, adds to growing evidence that the coronavirus can be passed not only through respiratory droplets, but through virus-laden feces, too.

via www.nytimes.com

Great.