新型小便器方便洗手 如厕讲卫生再没借口

Men have long been maligned for their lack of hygiene but now they have no excuse for not washing their hands after a visit to the bathroom.

A Latvian designer has come up with a novel toilet design to improve men's hand washing habits by by including a built-in tap.

Kaspars Jursons' design is called STAND and was created to encourage men to wash their hands after using the facilities.

But opinion is divided about whether it is hygienic to wash your hands in a urinal.

The tap is hands-free and activated by sensors, arguably making it more hygienic than a traditional tap and even easier to use.

Mr Jursons said: 'If you did not have the habit of washing your hands after you go to the bathroom before, you will definitely be reminded now, when you are faced with a tap right at the urinal.'

A recent study by environmental health experts at Michigan State University, found that just one in 20 people wash their hands for long enough to kill harmful germs after visiting the toilet.

Furthermore, a third do not use soap and 10 per cent do not wash their hands at all.

The research named and shamed men as particularly bad at washing their hands correctly.

Hand washing is the single most effective thing to do to reduce the spread of infectious diseases, according to the U.S. Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

Failing to sufficiently wash hands contributes to nearly 50 per cent of all food borne illness outbreaks, it said.

Experts say it takes 15 to 20 seconds of vigorous hand washing with soap and water to effectively kill the germs which cause infections.

Yet the study found that people washed their hands for, on average, only about six seconds.

A third of people do not use soap when washing their hands and 10 per cent do not wash their hands at all

Professor Carl Borchgrevink, associate professor of hospitality business and his team observed hand washing in toilets in bars, restaurants and other public establishments.

The study claims to be one of the first to take into account factors such as duration of the hand washing and whether people used soap.

Among the findings were that 15 per cent of men did not wash their hands at all, compared with seven per cent of women and when they did wash their hands, only 50 per cent of men used soap, compared with 78 per cent of women.

In another study, researchers from a group of US universities recently revealed that men are more likely to wash their hands after going to the toilet if they see messages reminding them to do so.

The scientists posted signs in college restrooms that read 'four out of five students wash their hands EVERY time they use the bathroom'.

Before the posters went up male participants self-reported washing their hands 75per cent of the time but after the reminders were pasted above sinks this figure jumped to 86 per cent.

据英国《每日邮报》网站7月8日的报道，从洗手间出来后不洗手貌似是不少男性的坏习惯，而女人也因此而责怪男人不讲卫生，不过拉脱维亚设计师卡斯帕尔斯•朱尔森斯（Kaspars Jursons）的作品可以让这些男人们再也找不到不洗手的借口。

朱尔森斯所设计的新型男厕小便池名为STAND，与普通小便池不同的是，它的顶部有一个水龙头和一个洗手池，不仅能够鼓励男士在如厕之后洗手，同时还能利用这些洗手水来清理小便槽，从而达到一举两得的目的。

同时，小便池上的水龙头是自动感应的，相对于普通水龙头更加卫生和方便。“如果你没有小便之后洗手的习惯，那么这种小便器对你来说无疑会是一个提醒，”朱尔森斯介绍说。

美国密歇根州立大学的环境健康专家们最近的一项研究表明，在20个人之中，只有一个人在如厕之后的洗手时间足够杀死手上的有害细菌，此外，有三分之一的人在洗手时没有使用肥皂，还有10%根本就不洗手。

美国疾病控制和预防中心的报道指出，便后洗手是减少传染病传播最有效的方法，如果未能充分洗手，食源性传染疾病的爆发率会增高50%左右。

健康专家表示，人们在洗手时不仅需要肥皂进行清理，同时还需要15到20秒钟的洗手时间，只有这样才能有效杀死手上的病菌。但是，研究发现人们日常平均洗手时间仅为6秒钟。

美国一项针对酒吧、餐馆和其他公共场所的厕所洗手情况调查结果显示，有15%的男士在如厕后不洗手，女士为7%，而在洗手的人群中，有50%的男士使用肥皂洗手，女士则为78%。而另一项研究则表明，相对于女性来说，男性在厕所看到洗手提示时，更倾向去按照提示进行洗手。