‘Open front’ toilet seats serve an important purpose that you probably didn’t know about

Don’t insult this headline.

There’s a reason why public toilets are equipped with U-shaped seats as opposed to the O-shaped ones you’ll find on your porcelain throne at home.

The general public has long speculated that the horseshoe shape may be for hygienic purposes – so you don’t come into contact with someone else’s bodily fluids or where their sensitive body parts are touched – or that urine can corrode porcelain. . Some have even claimed that the open front seat accommodates different body shapes and sizes that the closed seat simply cannot.

But the mystery of the toilet is solved.

The mystery of horseshoe-shaped toilet seats in public toilets has finally been answered. Henryk Sadura – stock.adobe.com

“Open front seats and extended toilets for public restrooms minimize the risk of the user coming into contact with potential contamination from a previous user,” Hugo Aguilar, senior vice president of Codes and Standards at the International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials . IAPMO), said in a statement to Nexstar.

Not to mention, the IAPMO Uniform Plumbing Code explicitly states that toilets used by the public require front-opening seats, and if they don’t, they must at least have automatic seat cover dispensers. Not every state, however, follows the same plumbing regulations.

“Having an opening prevents soiling of the toilet seat, especially during urination,” according to a blog entry from the American Society of Plumbing Engineers, which also explained that the U-shaped seat on the John was originally designed so that Janes could ” wipe” more easily. “This also prevents genital contact with the seat.”

Experts say the open front porcelain seats are to limit contact with bodily excrement. Adriana – stock.adobe.com

However, the few inches missing from the toilet seat for cleanliness are often the least of people’s concerns when using a can.

Public toilets are disgusting, especially in the Big Apple, where communal bathrooms were found to be full of germs from body excrement or lacking soap and toilet paper.

After the report was released last month, The Post asked Manhattanites if they would use the city’s public restrooms — the resounding answer seemed to be known.

Many passers-by said they would prefer to wait until they returned home, horrified by the unsanitary conditions.

When a bathroom is this dirty, people may try to hover over the seat so they don’t come into contact with whatever dirt or bacteria is on it. However, experts advise against it.

“Many people tend to hover or even sit on top of the toilet seat, leading to splashing of urine and feces on the toilet seat,” said Dr. Poonam Desai earlier said in a viral video online.

Some experts claimed that the gap in the seats was also designed to allow women to “hide” more easily. stock photography – stock.adobe.com

While she likes to wipe down the seat and put on a seat cover before using the toilet, she assured viewers that it’s “not very likely that you’re going to get an illness sitting directly on the toilet seat,” although “it’s kind of gross. to sit on other people’s feces or urine.”

“If we all sat on the toilet seat using a toilet seat cover, there would be less urine and faeces on the toilet seat,” she added.

She also warned women that hovering while urinating can strain the pelvic floor muscles and lead to an “incomplete emptying” of the bladder.

“So if you want to not only be sanitary, but also protect your pelvic floor muscles, it’s probably best for you to sit on the toilet seat,” she said.

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Image Source : nypost.com

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