When you flush your business down the toilet, it’s not a good idea to watch it swirl into oblivion. Researchers say that if you neglect to close the lid before you flush, you’re unleashing countless particles of waste into the air.

A British doctor interviewed by the Daily Mail says toilet flushes can unleash a cloud of nastiness that can hover in the air and settle on surfaces, possibly spreading sickness.

An experiment found that a toilet flush sent infectious particles 10 feet into the air, and traces were still found 90 minutes later. Closing the seat still allowed the particles to escape when flushed, but greatly reduced the revolting cloud left hovering over the toilet.

It’s there for a reason! How flushing the toilet with lid up ‘could spread winter vomiting bug’ [Daily Mail]

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