Hand Dryer

Fateh Srajeldin N.D.*

Warm-air hand driers installed in public washrooms, parks, restaurants and prestigious establishments are not any healthier than paper towels. The answer: paper towels are much cleaner, safer and have no consequences.

 Despite chemical deodorization and wall vents for air circulation the room's air remains stagnant and filled with biological molecules and bacteria.

The problem is not with the machine; rather, the problem is with the air available to dry your skin. The warm-air hand dryers in question have an inlet to draw air in it from its surrounding. Then, the air is filtered, warmed then delivered through the outlet to the user’s hands.

Washrooms, in most buildings, have no external air supply or a window. Therefore, the air in washrooms is stagnant and over time is contaminated with biological molecules emanating from people’s gas, bloating and intestinal tensions. Despite chemical deodorization and wall vents for air circulation the room’s air remains stagnant and filled with biological molecules and bacteria.

The machine sucks this existing air, filters it and delivers it to your hands. Other machines have a swivel nozzle which could be turned over to your face. Should the air contain any bacteria, and it does, the warmth provided by the machine will provide an ideal environment for the bacteria trapped in it.

I feel that the hand drying machine should be provided with an outside filtered fresh air to eliminate this problem. Until then, I do not and will not use these machines to dry any part of my skin. I will continue to use paper towels if available despite the machine’s presence at some establishments.

If no paper towel is present, then I will pray that no one will notice the water marks on my shirt under my arm pits. It is much safer than some one else’s biological molecules or bacteria.

*) Fateh Srajeldin N.D. of Toronto Canada is the director of the largest naturopathic and allergy clinic in North America.
Currently, he is treating members of the royal families and dignitaries from the Gulf region who have traveled to Canada specifically to be treated by him.