I've been inhaling the shit plume for thirty years and I'm not about to stop because of Wikipedia.

Mythbusters.

Do whatever you want, indoor plumbing means there is shit everywhere, closing the lid has little to no effect. This is just life, get over it.

I'm happy to see the top comments are from rational people.

I'm 60, the last time I was sick was when my son brought covid home from his work. Before that, it was when he was in kindergarten and first grade and brought home god-knows-what from school.

If a germophobe ever saw how I live, they'd run away in horror. I swear not being fastidiously clean is what keeps me healthy.

YSK that your toilet lid isn't a gasketed seal.

https://www.ajicjournal.org/article/S0196-6553(25)00630-3/abstract

Putting the lid down does reduce the amount of shit mist, but it does not even get close to eliminating it.

You close the lid to avoid a plume of fecal particles. I close the lid because otherwise my dumb cat jumps directly into the bowl. We are not the same.

YSK to not be scared of every little mundane thing in life. It will paralyze you

should I leave my face in the facehole before closing to ensure I'm in the splashzone?

The invisible particles that spread by air are not generally able to transmit disease because of their size, low concentration, and the short lifespan of pathogens surviving the airborne journey.

However, when you flush under a closed lid a MUCH higher concentration and long-lived pathogenic layer is deposited on the underside of the lid.

When you then sit down to shit, your shirt brushes against that moist underside of the lid behind you and THAT is much more dangerous as it moistens your garments and follows you back to your couch or bed.

People are fascinating.

There are people who follow the "10 second rule", i.e. food hits an unclean surface like the floor and they will pick it up and eat it.

Meanwhile, every single person who was born naturally has been shit on at birth. This is a thing that happens. And studies show that excessive cleaning of newborns leads to all sorts of allergies.

So there has to be a balance.

I'm sure a non-zero number of people have gotten ill from toilets flushing. I'm also sure that number is pretty small. And I'm as sure from studies that show that keeping the lid closed still lets particles out that it's going to happen.

I'm of the opinion that this is a very small problem.

But as it happens, I keep my toothbrush at my desk because it's more convenient for me.

So if it bothers you, keep your toothbrush in a cabinet and/or in one of those little cases.

How about we quantify how dangerous the farticles are first, before we decide how useful closing the seat is? Who cares how many invisible particles it stops if they turn out to be harmless?

Along with this... Normalize dudes sitting down to piss.

I just recycle it instead. You get used to the taste after a few cycles.

"A 2024 study showed evidence that even closing the lid may still lead to small viral particles escaping through gaps under the lid, resulting in viral cross-contamination of the air and surfaces in a washroom."

This is what I remember, there's no actual solution to this. Still close the lid though!

Been doing it for years

It is how I build my immune system.

I call 'em "farticles"

It also stops things from falling into your toilet, pets from getting to the water, etc.

Closing the lid is the only sensible thing to do.

Unless your toilet lid is airtight, you'll never fully defeat the plume.

Just keep your toothbrush in a case