Well dang. Reading this article does provide a couple more details though:
Another referenced study DID find that closing the lid reduced contamination
It depends on the toilet shape
Closing the lid does change the areas that get contaminated in the room (less upward plumage):
So it’s not that simple. All in all (including my other point that most trips require seat down anyway) and as a matter of personal preference (I think its nicer to have the lid closed), I’ll continue to close my lid.
Are you sure you read that right? They report contamination in log units, so a reduction from 6.23 to 4.81 is a 26x difference. There’s not much difference on the faces of lid & seat that directly face the bowl, but even the seat top had 15x more contaminants with the lid up than down.
The floor and the walls of the restroom were contaminated after toilet flushing, but no significant differences were observed between the contamination occurring with lid position up or down. Wall contamination was minimal, regardless of lid position, and there was no significant difference in contamination level between the surfaces assessed, but data indicated that the trajectory of the aerosol plume contamination may have changed. Floor contamination was not found to be reduced consistently by toilet lid closure prior to flushing. […] it appears that closure of the toilet lid is not effective in reducing the contamination of the toilet seat area or contamination of other areas (fomites, floors, walls) within the restroom.
Easy choice
Easy if you make assertions without citations. The lid appears not to be effective at spreading contamination. https://www.ajicjournal.org/article/S0196-6553(23)00820-9/fulltext
Well dang. Reading this article does provide a couple more details though:
So it’s not that simple. All in all (including my other point that most trips require seat down anyway) and as a matter of personal preference (I think its nicer to have the lid closed), I’ll continue to close my lid.
Are you sure you read that right? They report contamination in log units, so a reduction from 6.23 to 4.81 is a 26x difference. There’s not much difference on the faces of lid & seat that directly face the bowl, but even the seat top had 15x more contaminants with the lid up than down.