为什么在公共厕所必须戴口罩？扬州大学研究结果让人细思极恐
谣传已久的气溶胶传播再一次被证实。
8月19日，扬州大学科研团队在期刊《流体物理学》（Physics of Fluids）上发表的最新研究结果显示，公共厕所是病毒传播的高风险场所。无论是冲马桶还是冲小便池，都可能会释放出携带大量病毒的气溶胶。对此，研究人员建议市民们带上口罩如厕，并警告称：“疫情期间，公共厕所应强制规定使用者佩戴口罩，各项防扩散措施也要跟上，尽最大可能避免病毒传播。”
研究人员在论文中指出，冲马桶和冲小便池本质上都具有卫生风险，因为它们都会在空气中产生气溶胶，但小便池的风险要更大一些。该实验采用了一个特定模型来追踪冲厕过程中气溶胶颗粒的释放速率，实验结果显示，如果冲小便池，气溶胶颗粒只需5秒半左右就可以扩散到成年男性的大腿高度，而冲马桶则需要大约半分钟。因此，相同的时间内，从小便池中产生出的气溶胶颗粒往往具有“更猛烈的爬升倾向”。
其实早在今年2月，国内就已经出现有关粪口传播的证据，同时这也是各大游轮确诊病例数激增的最主要原因。
本次研究结果也再一次揭示出了新冠病毒的狡诈性，其传播途径之多，追踪判定之难已令多国政府束手无策，就算是新西兰这类早期抗疫非常成功的国家，都未能完全将确诊人数清零。
总而言之，疫情期间，为了健康与安全，在公共厕所还请戴上口罩。（财富中文网）
编译：陈怡轩
谣传已久的气溶胶传播再一次被证实。
8月19日，扬州大学科研团队在期刊《流体物理学》（Physics of Fluids）上发表的最新研究结果显示，公共厕所是病毒传播的高风险场所。无论是冲马桶还是冲小便池，都可能会释放出携带大量病毒的气溶胶。对此，研究人员建议市民们带上口罩如厕，并警告称：“疫情期间，公共厕所应强制规定使用者佩戴口罩，各项防扩散措施也要跟上，尽最大可能避免病毒传播。”
研究人员在论文中指出，冲马桶和冲小便池本质上都具有卫生风险，因为它们都会在空气中产生气溶胶，但小便池的风险要更大一些。该实验采用了一个特定模型来追踪冲厕过程中气溶胶颗粒的释放速率，实验结果显示，如果冲小便池，气溶胶颗粒只需5秒半左右就可以扩散到成年男性的大腿高度，而冲马桶则需要大约半分钟。因此，相同的时间内，从小便池中产生出的气溶胶颗粒往往具有“更猛烈的爬升倾向”。
其实早在今年2月，国内就已经出现有关粪口传播的证据，同时这也是各大游轮确诊病例数激增的最主要原因。
本次研究结果也再一次揭示出了新冠病毒的狡诈性，其传播途径之多，追踪判定之难已令多国政府束手无策，就算是新西兰这类早期抗疫非常成功的国家，都未能完全将确诊人数清零。
总而言之，疫情期间，为了健康与安全，在公共厕所还请戴上口罩。（财富中文网）
编译：陈怡轩
Here's one more thing to worry about: Flushing that toilet—or urinal—could spread COVID-19.
A study from Chinese researchers at Yangzhou University on August 19 found that the flushing action from both toilets and urinals can release clouds of virus-teeming aerosols, making public restrooms a potentially risky place for transmission. The researchers' advice: If you're going to use a public restroom, wear a mask. "Wearing a mask should be mandatory within public restrooms during the pandemic, and anti-diffusion improvements are urgently needed to prevent the spread of COVID-19," the researchers warned.
Flushing a toilet or urinal has always posed some kind of hygiene risk, as the action creates an interaction between gas and air. In the paper, titled Virus Transmission from Urinals, published in the journal Physics of Fluids, the researchers found that a urinal was potentially even more risky. The research used a model to track aerosol particles released during flushing, and found that in a urinal, those particles could spread up to a typical man's thigh level in about five and a half seconds, versus around half a minute for a flushing toilet. As a result, flushing from urinals produces a "more violent climbing tendency," the researchers said, adding it's something they had noticed outside of their research.
This latest study builds on previous evidence that COVID-19 can spread through restrooms. As early as February, Chinese researchers flagged that the virus could spread through feces, and one of the virus routes of transmission could be via the "fecal-oral" route—a particular worry on cruise ships.
Queasiness aside, the research highlights just how difficult it is to track and understand the many sources of virus transmission—a struggle that is frustrating even the most diligent governments the world over, including New Zealand, which previously announced it had contained the virus. And it appears to underscore a simple message to life in the COVID-19 era: If you must use a public toilet, bring your mask.
