在厕所用烘手器更环保，但它其实更不卫生。伴随暖风喷出的还有厕所中的排泄物和细菌，看到这儿，常常用烘手器的你是否已经崩溃了……别担忧，其中绝大多数病菌都不会致病，而且其实你无论是烘干或擦干，手上总会沾上一些细菌。
If youre a germophobe who wants to use a public bathroom ever again, you might want to sTOP reading this.
假如你有洁癖，而且平常需要用公共厕所，可能这篇文章你根本读不下去。
Because it turns out, while bathroom hand dryers can be more environmental than paper towels, they can also be a whirlpool of faecal matter.
由于事实是，虽然厕所的烘手器比纸巾更环保，但它同时也会喷出污物。
You might not know it, but when someone flushes an open toilet, little bits of poop and bacteria can be thrown as high as 15 feet into the air.
你可能不了解，在冲卫生间时，假如没盖马桶盖，那样会有少量排泄物和细菌被冲到15英尺（约合4.5米）的高空。
As if thats not gross enough, now a new study has found that those little bits of poop and bacteria can be sucked up by warm hand dryers and blown straight onto your freshly washed hands.
这还不够恶心，现在一项新研究发现，这类从马桶冲到空中的排泄物和细菌会被温暖的烘手器吸收，然后再直直地吹向你刚刚洗过的双手。
Researchers at the University of Connecticut began their study by placing petri dishes under various bathroom hand dryers around the school. Then, the team sat down to analyse the results.
康涅狄格大学的研究职员在学校多个厕所的烘手器下方放置了培养皿，然后对结果进行剖析。
While the plates that were exposed to normal bathroom air had about one bacterial colony present, the samples that were exposed to 30 seconds of hand dryer air had 18 to 60 bacterial colonies per plate.
暴露在普通厕所空气中的培养皿里有1个菌落，而在烘手器吹出的风中待30秒的培养皿里则有18-60个菌落。
The researchers concluded that many kinds of bacteria, including potential pathogens and spores, can be deposited on hands exposed to bathroom hand dryers.
研究职员得出结论称“烘手器会将多种细菌吹到大家手上，包含潜在的病原体和芽孢。”
The more air ya move? The more bacteria stick, lead author Peter Setlow explained to Business Insider.
研究报告的主要作者彼得-塞特洛对商业内幕网说：“吹的风越多，沾在手上的细菌也越多。”
And there are a lot of bacteria in bathrooms.
“厕所里有不少细菌。”
The results are so yuck that Setlow himself has officially sworn off hand dryers. And now, the University of Connecticut offers paper towels as a hand dryer alternative.
研究结论太让人作呕，塞特洛自己都正式弃用烘手器了。现在，康涅狄格大学在厕所里提供纸巾，代替烘手器。
Still, the average person doesnt need to freak out just yet. Setlow says that even though people who suffer from weak immune systems, like seniors, should avoid using hand dryers, the rest of us can probably handle it.
不过，普通人也不需要过于担忧。塞特洛表示，尽管老年人等免疫系统薄弱的人应该防止用烘手器，别的人基本上不会有大碍。
Besides – just because hand dryers churn out a ton of bacteria, doesnt mean that bacteria is necessarily bad for you. After all, fungi, bacteria and other microbes are absolutely everywher you go, and the vast majority of this menagerie doesnt make you sick.
除此之外，虽然烘手器会喷出很多细菌，但这类细菌也未必对身体有害。毕竟，真菌、细菌和其他微生物几乎无处不在，而其中绝大多数都不会致病。
Plus, exposure to bacteria is an important part of building up your immune system so that you can live a long and healthy life.
另外，接触细菌能够帮助增强免疫系统，让自己健康长寿。
And yes, while previous studies have found that bathroom hand dryers have the potential to spread diseases, the chances of this happening are not drastically higher because youre in a bathroom.
虽然曾有研究表明，厕所烘手器或许会传播疾病，但这种情况的发生概率并不因身处厕所而大幅升高。
The restroom isnt that dangerous, Jack Gilbert, a microbiologist at Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois, told Live Science back in 2016.
美国伊利诺斯州阿贡国家实验室的微生物学家杰克-吉尔伯特曾在2016年对生活科学网站说：“厕所没那样危险。”
The organisms which can grow there have a very low probability of being able to cause an infection.
“在厕所里滋生的有机体致使感染的概率很低。”
Nor is it completely clear if paper towels are a better alternative.
除此之外，研究职员尚不确定纸巾是否更好的选择。
While some past studies have found that paper towels are more sanitary, other independent studies have found no significant difference between the bacterial colonies bestowed by paper towels and those bestowed by hand dryers.
此前一些研究表明，纸巾愈加卫生；但也有其他的独立研究表明，纸巾传播的菌落和烘手器传播的菌落没有显著差异。
But if the thought of this study is still disturbing you, take comfort in this: Setlow and his team also found that retrofitting hand dryers with HEPA air filters reduced bacterial colonies four times over.
假如这还令你困扰，那再来看看这个：塞特洛和他的研究团队发现，在烘手器中加装高效空气过滤器可以将菌落数目降低至四分之一。
Our obsession with overt sterilisation and cleanliness, our paranoia, is just not helpful, Gilbert told Live Science.
吉尔伯特告诉生活科学网站说：“大家对无菌和清洗的过分痴迷是一种偏执，这没什么用。”
So whatever you do, just try to remember: regardless of how you dry your hands, youre bound to gather some bacteria one way or another.
所以无论你干什么，都要记住：无论烘干或擦干，你的手上总会沾上一些细菌。
And thats the gross truth.
这就是全部事实。
The study was published in Applied and Environmental Microbiology.
这项研究发表在《应用环境微生物学》期刊上。