You Should Know

but also: who the fuck doesn't close the lid before flushing??

anyways i keep my toothbrush in the kitchen because i find it gross to brush near the toilet in general, i don't get why brushing in the kitchen or some other faucet isn't more common, it seems much more sensible to me!

Every other sexual post these days seems to be about eating ass, I’m not sure toilet plumes are high on the GenZ+ concern list.

Yeah, I'm of the mind that if I can't sense something, and I'm not getting sick all the time because of it, it's not bad enough to avoid. Lo and behold, I almost never get sick, even when my wife gets sick all the time. Now, it could absolutely be confirmation bias or some hidden 3rd factor that's causing this, but either way, bring on the fecal matter mistings!

Agreed. Obviously there are some things that, as we acquire new knowledge that may change daily behavior, need to be reconsidered, but this is not one of them. People will look for the dirty hypodermic in the haystack of swords.

There’s so many other things to care about more. In the age of information, our mental health depends on conscious gate keeping of what we allow to concern us and modify our behavior. Everyone needs to decide their own path but if you don’t and just scroll the feed you’ll go mad.

true, but if I gotta close the lid anyway to stop the cats from drinking from it, I may as well do it before flushing rather than after

That same study also includes this figure,

But the study doesn't measure other surfaces or things like "a nearby sink" or "a hand towel". Perhaps for airborne particles they roam more freely, but what about surface particles? I feel like there is more to study.

I'd much rather have something fall onto the toilet lid than into the toilet. That alone makes closing it worthwhile.

Which would make your colon a farticle accelerator...

With cleaning in general, there is never fully anything. It's about abatement. If a measure is (for example) 80% effective, the whole chain forward will have contamination numbers 80% lower. So even if you keep your toothbrush in a case, it will have (again, made up numbers here) 80% less contamination. Which, depending on the microbe, it could mean the difference between a immuno-compromised person catching or not a disease.

Now, in your house, you do you. But it baffles me that the norm for public restrooms in the US, even in hospitals, is to have no lid at all.

Also it’s good for your immune system to get exercise.

Houses are too sterile these days.

There was a Mythbusyers where did cultures, which is when you put the sample in a growth medium (think ideal environment for microbe multiplication). This can only detect presence or absence of microbial contamination, and which kind.

As a science experiment, it's fundamentally flawed. A preventative measure must be evaluated by quantitative methods.

You know how antiseptic soaps / gels proudly display they kill 99.9 or 99.98% of germs? It's not 99.9% of species of germs, it's 99.9% of germs that come in contact with it. Because 100% is impossible, and our bodies can deal just fine with a little bit of foreign invasion. (Incidentally, regular soap is about 99% effective, so use whatever soap you like and leave the antibacterial stuff for only when someone is actually sick.)

Anyway, closing the lid (or any other measure) will not be 100% effective, but a half-second intervention that significantly cuts exposure. It's a no brainer, just close the fucking lid.

Anecdotally it's pretty accurate, toilets smell less when the lids are kept down. Smell strength is directly proportional to the amount of particles in the air.

Tell that to Betsy Donovan. She died when the toilet seat was left up.

No one considers it a life or death matter. Just gross.

You shit and then pull your pants up by your belt.

You have never once washed your belt - anyone who says they have is coping.

I'm appalled that you just assume it's normal for your clothes to rub up against the toilet lid at all or that its position when you flush can make that not gross.

I even put the lid down before I piss.

I can not be the only one who is very aware, whenever i smell a fart, where those molecules were before they were in my nose.