WHAT REALLY HAPPENS WHEN YOU FLUSH

New York Post

 

Horrifying study shows what really happens to the air when you flush — and toilet ‘loading’ matters

By Rachel Sacks

Published Sep. 9, 2026, 10:45 a.m. ET

 

An invisible danger lurks in your bathroom.

 

Bathroom hygiene often focuses on what you touch — wash your hands properly, clean your towels and bathmats often and consider investing in a bidet.

 

Recent research, though, has unveiled a horrifying threat that’s unleashed into the air every time you flush.

 

Researchers at Flinders University reviewed 22 previously published studies of aerosols released when a toilet is flushed.

 

When water rushes around the bowl, turbulence throws microscopic droplets up into the air that contain bacteria, viruses and other biological material, such as fecal matter, from the toilet water.

 

Some of the studies included in the review detected these particles more than five feet above the floor — within many people’s breathing zones — and found some even remain airborne for at least 20 seconds after a flush.

 

And more microbial “loading,” or higher levels of bacteria in the toilet water, meant more amounts of invisible bacterial spray in the air.

 

Every tenfold increase in microbial concentration in the water was linked to around 2.6 times asmuch bacteria the amount in the air.

 

Many of the particles ranged in size from 0.3 to 10 micrometers, with a majority under 3 micrometers, remaining small enough to stay airborne and potentially be inhaled.

 

The review also found that flushing energy, or the amount of water in the bowl that’s being flushed down, contributed to the presence of bacteria in the air, with an additional liter of water associated with roughly a 1.3-fold increase.

 

Previous studies have even made the invisible spray visible to demonstrate just how far it can reach.

 

A 2022 study from the University of Colorado used a laser exhibit to create a visual representation of a commercial toilet launching aerosols to a height of about 1.5 meters in a matter of eight seconds.

 

However, closing the lid may not make too much of a difference.

 

A 2024 study in the American Journal of Infection Control found that although putting the lid down before flushing trapped larger particles, it did nothing for more microscopic ones, allowing them to escape through gaps between the lid, seat and bowl.

 

The more recent review also found limited evidence that the lid position made a difference in the air plume.

 

Researchers still recommend closing the lid as a precautionary measure to help somewhat prevent toilet “loading” from ending up in the air.

 

Additionally, regular toilet cleaning, handwashing and using the lower-volume option on dual-flush toilets can reduce the spread of germs.

 

While these are all feasible in a private home bathroom, the flush plume is concerning in public restrooms, with further research needed to develop interventions to reduce toilet-generated aerosols.

 

AH: This is why it's crucial for people to boost their immune systems. 

HANK WILLIAMS-FROM JERUSALEM TO JERICHO

Great song. Too bad Hank Williams never lived out the faith. 

RADIO-RELATED STUFF: MONDAY NIGHT DX CATCHES

Picked up K-Love Buffalo faintly last night.

Picked up WFUF-FM Rochester with "Country Nights."

Picked up B 104.7 Syracuse with Boxer and country music last night and tonight. Tonight I stayed tuned and caught the first several minutes of "After Midnight", playing two of the same records Boxer had just spun. 

NATURE NOTES: TINY FLYING THINGS AND MORE (WRITTEN LATE SUNDAY NIGHT)

Holy moley, there's a lot of dew tonight!

Not very many hummingbirds this year.

Lots of bees around right now.

Have heard coyotes several nights recently. 

RADIO-RELATED STUFF: LOCAL RADIO SUNDAY NIGHT

Surprised to hear The Wolf Peterborough's Luke Foster was in the hospital again.

Tuned into "TGI Nineties" Friday night on My FM. There were a lot of tracks I hadn't heard before, and some rare dance tracks, but overall I found it pretty boring. Not a lot of music you could party to on a Friday evening and John put hardly any phone calls on the air, despite the fact it was a request show.

The Wolf Peterborough played the same ID twice in a row tonight.  

THE REAL REASON THE NEPAL GLACIER COLLAPSED

New York Post

 

Mount Everest glaciers are under threat and melting — thanks to climbers relieving themselves

By Ben Cost

Published Sep. 4, 2026, 10:05 a.m. ET

 

Urine trouble, Mount Everest.

 

After standing the test of time for 50 million years, the world’s tallest mountain is under threat from an unlikely source: our pee.

 

Urine deposited on glaciers is enough to melt over 150 tons of ice and snow on Mount Everest every year, according to an a-thaw-calyptic study in the Regional Environmental Change scientific journal, as reported by the Independent.

 

“Urine, with a temperature of around 37°C (human body temperature), causes the ice to melt,” wrote the study authors, who were sent by Nepal’s Survey Department to determine the impact of humans on Everest.

 

The international team of scientists studied the Khumbu Glacier, the home of the Everest base camp on the mountain’s Nepalese side. Hundreds of people congregate there each year before attempting to summit the 29,035-foot wonder.

 

These throngs have turned this majestic pinnacle into a “Burning Man”-esque tent city producing disruptive noise, Himalayan trash mounds, and of course, mountains of human waste.

 

While climbers have been required to pack out their poop in bags since 2024, climbers still relieve themselves directly onto the ice.

 

The researchers focused on the spring season in 2023, when roughly 2,000 people descended upon base camp, situated some 17,958 feet above sea level, the Daily Mail reported.

 

According to their calculations, the pee generated by the enthusiastic climbers totaled roughly 3.181 liters (0.8 gallons) per person. That means on a 50-day journey, the overall leakage hits 338,299 liters — more than 89,000 gallons.

 

The researchers estimated that the heat from heeding nature’s call could melt around 154 tons of ice in a single season.

 

When coupled with the thousands of gallons of gas used for heating and cooking, that figure jumped to 2,492 tons — enough to fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool.

 

“The increasing number of climbers, trekkers and support staff, particularly at the campsite area, has intensified environmental impacts on the Khumbu Glacier,” the researchers wrote.

 

There’s one caveat to this trickle-down theory: The calculation assumes that all the heat from human pee transfers to the ice, which might not be true.

 

“This estimate is likely to represent an upper bound, as it does not account for heat losses through percolation into debris, runoff, incomplete heat transfer, or other dissipative processes that are difficult to quantify under field conditions,” the team wrote.

 

Nonetheless, the scientists are calling for Everest Base Camp to a dryer spot with less melting potential.

 

“Relocating the base camp to an ice–free site could help to mitigate human–induced glacier melt while fostering more sustainable mountaineering practices,” they wrote. “If implemented, relocation could reduce the stress on the Khumbu Icefall, enhance expedition safety, and contribute to a more resilient mountain ecosystem.”

 

Unfortunately, Everest is under threat from more than mountaineers making water.

 

The face is reportedly littered with more than 50 tons of trash, earning it the moniker “the world’s highest garbage dump,” according to National Geographic.

 

Last year, Nepal even shelved a scheme to have Everest adventurers bring their own trash down for cash after it failed to show tangible results, the BBC reported.

 

Part of the problem is that climbers would only haul back refuse from lower camps and not from the higher slopes, where the trash was most plentiful.

 

Therefore, the idea got binned.

SIMON MAGUS WAS THE FIRST POPE

This is not just for entertainment. Watch and heed, people!