Toilet plume

Common card · No. 443429

A toilet plume is the invisible to the naked eye, cloud-like dispersal of raw, infectious sewage particles as a result of flushing a toilet. Flush particles rapidly rise out of the bowl and several feet into the air after flushing, entering one's breathing zone. Aerosolized droplets can remain suspended in the air for tens of minutes between users, continuing to pose shared inhalation risks. These invisible particles go on to coat and spread onto surfaces like floors and counters or objects like hand towels, bathmats, or even toothbrushes. Daily use of a toilet by healthy individuals is considered to pose a lower health risk in terms of infection. However, if an individual is immunocompromised and the previous user was sick and shed out quantities of an infectious virulent pathogen (virus or bacteria) in their urine, feces, or vomitus that would be sufficient for infection, a significantly greater risk may arise to the immunocompromised individual. Aerosolization of the toilet bowl contents...

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