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My girlfriend insisted that I should sit down in the future after reading this tip (German) for easier cleaning:

When standing, the stream sprays up to 3.50 m far, as measured from a drop height of about 77 cm. This means, even toothbrushes are in danger!

Can this be possible? Our toothbrushes are in front of the toilet and I can't imagine that happening.

rjzii
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Sven
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  • This is something you could measure in the solitude of your toilet. Unfortunately, I understand, original research is not welcome at this site. – UncleBens Nov 21 '11 at 16:26
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    I thought people generally kept toothbrushes inside a cabinet so that soapy water from the sink doesn't get splashed on them by accident. I never even considered toilet splash-back. – Randolf Richardson Nov 21 '11 at 18:44
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    The source is not really notable, it is something like a forum. But I vaguely remember reading something similar a long while ago, so I'm pretty certain there are claims like this going around. I also improved the translation a bit, though it was pretty good already – Mad Scientist Nov 21 '11 at 18:47
  • My wife says stuff like this too. She leaves her toothbrush in the bedroom because, by her opinion, fecal matter is ejected from the toilet upon flushing, and that gets deposited on the toothbrush. – Kibbee Nov 21 '11 at 20:23
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    I don't know if the act of urinating will do that, but flushing can create some unsavory aerosols: "Many individuals may be unaware of the risk of air-borne dissemination of microbes when flushing the toilet and the consequent surface contamination that may spread infection within the household, via direct surface-to-hand-to mouth contact. Some enteric viruses could persist in the air after toilet flushing and infection may be acquired after inhalation and swallowing." http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16033465 – Simon Nov 21 '11 at 16:32
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    I think it is more interesting to see if a splash of urine on a toothbrush can actually cause any health risks. That is a more interesting question in my opinion. – picakhu Nov 21 '11 at 22:26
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    @Simon and Kibbee will be happy to know their questions have already been considered on Skeptics.SE: http://skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/4317/are-there-airborne-poop-particles-flying-around-bathrooms http://skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/3202/is-it-more-hygenic-to-keep-the-lid-down-on-the-toilet-after-use – Oddthinking Nov 21 '11 at 23:58
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    Interesting comment here - http://www.naturalnews.com/031020_toothbrushes_contamination.html - pointing out that things like fecal coliform bacteria are found on ttoothbrushes kept in a cupboard in a different room... – Rory Alsop Nov 22 '11 at 08:36
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    Mythbusters did an episode on this: http://dsc.discovery.com/fansites/mythbusters/db/human-body/fecal-matter-on-toothbrush.html. Results: your toothbrush is *never* safe. – Ricardo Tomasi Apr 09 '12 at 05:32
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    @RicardoTomasi - Your toothbrush can be safe, but you usually have to take [extra measures](http://www.amazon.com/Violight-VIO200-Travel-Toothbrush-Sanitizer/dp/B000BOK6PO) to keep it safe. – rjzii Oct 05 '12 at 11:14
  • @RoryAlsop NaturalNews is not what i would call reliable. Afaik articles are not reviewed and their methods and conclusions are often questionable. – Stefan Oct 05 '12 at 13:22
  • @RandolfRichardson: seriously? What is the problem with soapy water? You put soap on the toothbrush anyway – nico Oct 05 '12 at 16:59

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Well, according to the Mythbusters, your toothbrush is in danger no matter where you keep it.

Every time you flush a toilet, it releases an aerosol spray of tiny tainted water droplets. [...] At the end of the month-long trial, they sent their toothbrush collection to a microbiologist for bacterial testing. Astonishingly, all the toothbrushes were speckled with microscopic fecal matter, including the [control toothbrushes] that had never seen the inside of a bathroom. The confirmed myth unfortunately proved that there's indeed fecal matter on toothbrushes — and also everywhere else.

I don't know anyone who drops a deuce while standing up, so even if you were to sit down to relieve yourself, your toothbrush is in danger.

jdstankosky
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  • Is myth busters considered a reliable source? Most of there findings are not replicated. – David LeBauer Nov 02 '12 at 02:39
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    @David - Depends on the situation, they have been discussed in [meta before](http://meta.skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/1894/does-mythbusters-count-as-a-credible-scientific-source) and it seems like the consensus is that they need to be taken on a case-by-case basis as a source. – rjzii Nov 08 '12 at 13:48