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It's always a dilemma when you find yourself exorcising demons in a public toilet stall with someone else in the room. Should I:

A. Do immediate courtesy flushes to minimise trauma of all those present but potentially put everyone's health at risk.

OR

B. Do a single flush at the end with the lid down.

I always lean to A because I have a robust immune system and I figure by that point if anyone else in the room cares for their well being they would have already left the room or taken measures to shield themselves from the ongoing olfactory assault.



It's worth remembering that "olfactory assault" is already caused by particles of your poo flying through the room and entering their body through their nose and mouth. If that's not causing a health risk, I find it unlikely adding some water to the mix will suddenly make it dangerous.


Those are gases, not solid matter like pathogens.


While the smell of farts are primarily gas, I thought the smell of poo was mostly particles of poo. And even farts contain a notable amount of poo particles.


Basically anything you can smell is a gas, not particulates.


Most public toilets I've seen don't have lids anyway.


I'm guessing that the seal created by ones posterior during the aforementioned exorcism would provide significantly more protection against bioaerosols than any standard lid.

theres also this

> This suggests standard lid usage reduces but does not eliminate flush-related bioaerosols. Lid-use changes their characteristics and apparently prolongs their residence time in room air




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