Bacterial transfer and cross-contamination potential associated with paper-towel dispensing

The role of hands in disease transmission is well established, and the importance of handwashing is recognized. However, the exits of paper-towel dispensers used in hand drying may be contaminated, and the functionality of handwashing equipment increasingly is being questioned.

We sought to study the transfer and cross-contamination potential between hands, towels, and dispenser exits if one or more is contaminated using bacteria representative of the skin's flora.

A generic wall-mounted paper-towel dispenser and a range of different paper towels were used. Volunteers with either clean or contaminated hands were asked to remove, using a range of protocols, towels from dispensers which themselves were either clean or contaminated. Previously clean surfaces were then microbiologically tested.

Recoverable bacterial transfer rates from a contaminated hand to clean dispenser exits ranged from 0.01% to 0.64% depending on the bacteria used with an even higher transfer rate for clean towels. The reverse transfer (ie, from contaminated exits to clean hands) was between 12.4% and 13.1%.

The results indicate that zig-zag transfer of bacteria between paper-towel dispensers and hands can take place if either one is contaminated. This potential should be considered in the design, construction, and use of paper-towel dispensers.