
▲ 烘手機空氣樣本隔天出現大量細菌。(圖/翻攝自TikTok)
記者陳宛貞/綜合外電報導
英國科學家麥克拉倫(Ruth MacLaren)透過實驗發現,公共廁所烘手機吹出的強風中充滿細菌與真菌,經過一夜培養後,培養皿長出大量不同種類的細菌,相較之下,一般空氣中的細菌含量幾乎為零,這項結果令她直言,「這就是我不用烘手機的原因」,引發網友熱議。
英媒Devon Live報導,麥克拉倫是Devon Science教育計畫創辦人,先前在TikTok上分享實驗過程,她將培養皿放置於公廁烘手機下方,收集吹出的空氣樣本,同時另取一個培養皿在一般空氣中揮動作為對照組,經過隔夜培養後,結果令人震驚。
@devonscience Has anything changed? Did that hand dryer get a service or clean? For its viral birthday ???? (28M views), I went back and retested THE hand dryer seen by so many, this time I also tested my hands before & after using it. I've identified the main bacterial species growing (they're common environmental bacteria), and they're coming from inside the machine vents (see videos on this). Please see my follow up videos on this which will answer some of your questions, i.e. are the bacteria harmful, what do these results mean, what happens next! Remember this is a quick test, not a scientific experiment, but it could be a great project for someone studying microbiology. I've tested a few different hand dryers over the last 12 months, have a look at the videos on my profile. #handdryer #bacteria #viral #germs #dirty ♬ original sound - Devon Science
麥克拉倫在影片中表示,烘手機培養皿出現許多不同種類的細菌,甚至還有真菌,相對之下,一般空氣樣本完全沒有細菌生長。這段影片在社群媒體上瘋傳,累積逾千萬次觀看。
有網友留言回應,「我寧願用衣服擦手,因為我不喜歡烘手機的噪音」、「太誇張了,明明沒有直接接觸烘手機,這些細菌從哪來的?我以為高溫會殺死細菌,以後不敢用烘手機了」、「身為一個多年來一直宣傳烘手機很髒的人,我覺得自己不那麼瘋狂了」。
不過,也有部分網友點出實驗設計疏失,認為應採集公廁空氣而非辦公室空氣作為對照組。麥克拉倫也承認這點,並稱將進一步進行相關測試。
