Evaluation and Bacterial Contamination of Public Toilets

Abstract

Evaluations of public toilets in a large retail supermarkets, A and B were 30 branches in Bangkok by using a HAS toilet standards developed by the Department of Health, Ministry of Public Health, Thailand and bacterial swab on the surface of the material with a 5-point touch, including faucets, sinks, toilet seat, door handles/knobs and toilet flushes. The total number is 100 samples that isolate and identify of bacterial contamination in the public toilet such as coliform bacteria, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus and Salmonella spp.
Results, Supermarkets A were not standard of HAS in 2 branches (6.7%) forasmuch of the standards of Healthy of criteria to evaluate all three aspects of Healthy (H), Accessibility (A) and Safety (S). The results of sampling and isolation of bacterial contamination were found in the toilets, Coliform bacteria, E. coli, Staphylococcus aureus and Coagulase negativeStaphylococcus spp. (CNSA), but not found Salmonella spp. The majority of bacteria contaminated isolated from faucets, sinks, door handles/knobs, toilet seats and toilet flushes, respectively. So that, the lack of appropriate management in public toilets to clean or use an unhygienic habits cause the accumulation of bacteria and can spread. Finally, there is the health risk by the services of public toilets available in these supermarkets.