Nichole Ward, a mother from Carlsbad, California, recently conducted an eye-opening and stomach-churning experiment.
The results are going massively viral with 545,373 shares on Facebook.
After holding a Petri dish under a public hand dryer for three minutes, then leaving the dish to "incubate" for 48 hours, Nichole posted a photo of what grew inside the dish.
Let's just say the image may have you thinking twice the next time you go to use a hand dryer…
Photo: Wikipedia Commons; Facebook/ Nichole Ward
Nichole Ward is a new mother from Carlsbad, California.
Recently, Nichole entered a public restroom and decided to conduct her very own science experiment…
…and the results are making people around the world think twice before using public hand dryers.
Nichole posted a photo of her experiment on Facebook and it quickly went viral.
"This here, is what grew in a Petri dish after just a few days," she wrote.
"I stuck the open plate in an enclosed hand dryer of a public bathroom for a total of 3 minutes."
"DO NOT EVER dry your hands in those things again.
This is the several strains of possible pathogenic fungi and bacteria that you’re swirling around your hands, and you think you’re walking out with clean hands.
You’re welcome.
This post is simply for awareness, not to instill fear."
She also included the hashtags #nomorehanddryers, #outlaw, and #spreadthenews.
Despite Nichole's Facebook post spreading like wildfire, it should be known that she hasn't specified whether or not she has any scientific background.
Still, there are many studies that back up Nichole's experiment.
For example, scientists from the University of Leeds found that modern hand dryers can indeed spread bacteria in public restrooms. Airborne germ counts were 27 times higher around jet air dryers compared to the air around paper towel dispensers.
Nichole's gross photo went massively viral with 545,373 shares on Facebook.
Some commenters have even hailed her "human of the year" for sharing her findings.
More and more people are back to using the ol' paper towel dispenser.
However, they're getting harder to find since public bathrooms are replacing them with more hand dryers than ever before.
Nichole says her experiment has changed the way she sanitizes after using public bathrooms.
"From now on I just wash and scrub, and dry on my clothes or shake and air dry OUTSIDE of the restroom."
