Gender-neutral lavatories are dirtier

According to a new research, the ladies’ toilets are cleaner than the gents’ and the gender-neutral lavatories tested in hospital toilets were the dirtiest of them all. The independent study carried out by a consultant microbiologist at NHS Lanarkshire examined the bacteria levels in various hospital toilets.

The door handles in the gents’ were found to be around eight times as dirty as those in the ladies’ while the cleanest facilities were the female staff toilets. However, gender-neutral toilets, which included unisex and disabled facilities, had the highest level of germs. Researchers felt this may have been due to heavier overall use.

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The research team also found that the floors and high surfaces yielded higher levels of aerobic bacteria and fungi than hand-touch sites, possibly because hand-touch sites are cleaned more thoroughly than other surfaces. This could also be from the tiny water particles from the toilet flush or airborne microorganisms. Hence, hospital toilets should have lids which should be closed before flushing and patient toilets should be cleaned more frequently than other toilets.