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2013 ; 47
(9
): 1047-1057
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Aerosol Generation by Modern Flush Toilets
#MMPMID26635429
Johnson D
; Lynch R
; Marshall C
; Mead K
; Hirst D
Aerosol Sci Technol
2013[]; 47
(9
): 1047-1057
PMID26635429
show ga
A microbe-contaminated toilet will produce bioaerosols when flushed. We assessed
toilet plume aerosol from high efficiency (HET), pressure-assisted high
efficiency (PAT), and flushometer (FOM) toilets with similar bowl water and flush
volumes. Total and droplet nuclei "bioaerosols" were assessed. Monodisperse
0.25-1.9- ? m fluorescent microspheres served as microbe surrogates in separate
trials in a mockup 5 m(3) water closet (WC). Bowl water seeding was approximately
10(12) particles/mL. Droplet nuclei were sampled onto 0.2- ? m pore size mixed
cellulose ester filters beginning 15 min after the flush using open-face
cassettes mounted on the WC walls. Pre- and postflush bowl water concentrations
were measured. Filter particle counts were analyzed via fluorescent microscopy.
Bowl headspace droplet count size distributions were bimodal and similar for all
toilet types and flush conditions, with 95% of droplets <2?m diameter and>99%<5?
m. Up to 145,000 droplets were produced per flush, with the high-energy
flushometer producing over three times as many as the lower energy PAT and over
12 times as many as the lowest energy HET despite similar flush volumes. The mean
numbers of fluorescent droplet nuclei particles aerosolized and remaining
airborne also increased with flush energy. Fluorescent droplet nuclei per flush
decreased with increasing particle size. These findings suggest two concurrent
aerosolization mechanisms-splashing for large droplets and bubble bursting for
the fine droplets that form droplet nuclei.