Iyo Toru, Asakura Keiko, Nakano Makiko, Omae Kazuyuki
Department of Health Sciences, School of Allied Health Sciences, Kitasato University, 1-15-1 Kitasato, Minami-ku, Sagamihara, Kanagawa 252-0373, Japan E-mail:
Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, School of Medicine, Toho University, 5-21-16, Omori-Nishi, Ota-ku, Tokyo 143-8540, Japan.
J Water Health. 2018 Jun;16(3):346-358. doi: 10.2166/wh.2017.137.
The objectives of this study were to conduct an appropriate microbial evaluation of warm-water bidet toilet seats. Health-related advantages and disadvantages have been associated with using warm-water bidet toilet seats, which are classified according to the tank type, including tanks equipped with reservoir water heaters and on-demand tankless systems equipped with an instantaneous water heater. However, related bacterial research is sparse. Here, we performed a long-term survey of the behavior of microorganisms (i.e., the total viable count (TVC), heterotrophic plate counts (HPCs), and Pseudomonas aeruginosa count) in a university campus. We also examined the differences between the tank and on-demand types, and the origins of P. aeruginosa. A low TVC (≤1/mL) in the spray waters from both on-demand and tank-type warm-water bidet toilet seats showed low bacterial contamination, although there was an increase in HPC, i.e., growth of biofilms, inside in the warm-water bidet toilet seats. When P. aeruginosa was detected in spray water over an extended duration, the P. aeruginosa origin was considered as either from feces or tap water. Collectively our findings demonstrate that hygienic safety of warm-water bidet toilet seats is being maintained overall.
本研究的目的是对温水坐浴马桶座圈进行适当的微生物评估。使用温水坐浴马桶座圈与健康相关的优缺点已被提及，这些马桶座圈根据水箱类型进行分类，包括配备储水式热水器的水箱和配备即热式热水器的即热无水箱系统。然而，相关的细菌研究很少。在此，我们对大学校园中微生物的行为（即总活菌数（TVC）、异养平板计数（HPC）和铜绿假单胞菌计数）进行了长期调查。我们还研究了水箱型和即热型之间的差异以及铜绿假单胞菌的来源。尽管温水坐浴马桶座圈内的HPC有所增加，即生物膜生长，但即热式和水箱型温水坐浴马桶座圈的喷雾水中TVC较低（≤1/mL），表明细菌污染程度较低。当在喷雾水中长时间检测到铜绿假单胞菌时，其来源被认为是粪便或自来水。总体而言，我们的研究结果表明温水坐浴马桶座圈的卫生安全性总体上得到了维持。
