Paper Toilet Seat Covers- Do They Really Help?

A while back, a colleague of mine traveled to Chicago for a conference. Upon return, she came to my office, mortified: "There are no paper toilet seat covers at O'Hare airport!"

This spiraled my thought process through my past- how often did I ever use a paper toilet seat cover in IL? At some nice public buildings and some private ones, for certain. Any of my places of work? Definitely not. At best I could recall some nice, money-filled buildings that offered them. Otherwise it was good ole' fashioned squat and hover, risk your rump to the germs, or make your own out of toilet paper (the ladder being the most popular of my recollection).

In San Diego, however, these things are everywhere! I have not ventured to a portable restroom here yet, but I would be shocked if they were not also offered there. The world of progression in Southern California seems to include the need for protecting the rear end from the germ threat of the toilet seat.

I just cannot help wonder- does it really protect? From the invention of the flush toilet, how many of our generations used bathrooms without benefit of these paper covers without harm? What changed in our society to determine the necessity for these?

For starters, I want to set the record straight: You Cannot Catch an STD from a toilet seat!!  

Raise your hand if you can determine what the S stands for in STD! 

Unless you are performing the S in the restroom, you will not pick up any of these diseases from sitting on a toilet. 

(One of my colleagues and my own husband were under this false impression, and the below research also confirms and backs this up)

My question over a toilet seat cover's usefulness comes from the bacteria that get accidentally 'placed' on a toilet set from someone else, then you walk in to sit down... Ew. But can a thin sheet of paper really protect you from that? To determine, I consulted research on the internet, utilizing my skills from college to determine a good quality source vs an opinion that may or may not be true.

1. An article at Bottomlinepubliciations.com sought the opinion of a PhD professor of environmental microbiology at The University of Arizona in Tucson, who stated, "...based on my past germ research, in my opinion, most toilet seat covers are useless"

2. An article from the University of San Francisco student website, San Francisco Foghorn, offered several quotes from its professors and students, with a majority consensus confirming there is no indisputable proof that paper covers protect the rump from bacteria, though it seemed agreed upon that the paper covers do help the mental 'ick' factor of sitting on a seat that someone else has potentially 'sprinkled' on before you.

3. EveryDayHealth.com consulted Dr. Philip Tierno, director of clinical microbiology and diagnostic immunology at New York University Medical Center and Mt. Sinai Medical Center in New York City. He offered some great advice in this artilce: "Use common sense, Tierno says: "If [the toilet seat is] dirty, don't use it." But in general, he says, "You're unlikely to pick up anything from a toilet seat.""

4. Wisegeek.com defines the paper toilet seat covers, and includes in the definition that "it is primarily an item of superstition".

5. A physician who blogs posted her own article research and opinions, which conclude that the paper covers do not protect the rear end from germs.

The list could go on, but I believe 5 makes my point. 

If you want to make sure your bottom does not pick up germs from someone's failed attempt to use the toilet, carry alcohol wipes and wipe the toilet seat down - but do keep in mind alcohol wipes are probably not very degradable (which is needed to prevent plumbing clogs), and to dispose of them properly for sake of the plumbing system. 

Paper toilet seat covers do not protect your rear end from toilet germs. Otherwise we would have had a lot more dead great-great-great grandparents from a disease they picked up in the water closet.