Video shows shocking amount of bacteria lurking on hand dryers

By Jessica Hehir-Smith via SWNS

This video shows the shocking amount of bacteria harbored by hand dryers - suggesting air-drying could be more hygienic.

Dallin Lewis, 33, decided to run his own experiment after seeing multiple articles online debating just how hygienic hand dryers actually are.

He wanted to see for himself how much bacteria would come out of hand dryers - and so used the equipment he already had to find out.

The digital content creator from Provo, Utah, visited multiple public bathrooms in locations, such as a store, a gas station and a movie theatre, and held multiple Petri dishes under various hand dryers.

Dallin compared this to a control test, where he simulated what it would be like if hands were left to air dry, to solidify his findings.

He placed the labeled Petri dishes into an incubator for three days to allow the bacteria to grow.

Dallin said that, despite his previous research, he was incredibly surprised by his results.

The control test didn’t show any noticeable bacteria growth - however every single one of the hand dryer tests showed a considerable amount of white spots, indicating a high level of bacteria.

“I knew they would be bad but I was in no way expecting the level I saw," he said.

“I have done many similar bacteria growth tests on a variety of surfaces - phones and gas pumps are probably some of the worst, but the hand dryer was so bad though!”

Dallin’s research suggests that hand dryers could be harboring bacteria that could be spread to freshly-washed hands.

These clips were filmed in June 2022.