Background Toilet flushing in public restrooms generates bioaerosols that may contain pathogenic microorganisms, posing potential risks for airborne infection transmission. Conventional control strategies such as ventilation and disinfection primarily function after contaminants have already dispersed, offering limited preventive efficacy. objective This study is aimed at scientifically verifying the effectiveness of a negative‐pressure toilet system applying the source control principle, which captures and removes contaminants at the point of generation. Methods To simulate bioaerosol behavior, ammonia (NH 3 ) and hydrogen sulfide (H 2 S) were used as surrogate gases due to their comparable aerodynamic properties. The performance of the Etish‐D1st system was evaluated under the official testing protocols of the Korea Conformity Laboratories (KCL), focusing on odor gas removal efficiency, suction flow rate, and noise level under operating and nonoperating conditions. Results When the system was activated, NH 3 concentration inside the toilet was reduced to a nondetectable level (≤ 5 ppm) within 10 min, whereas nonoperating conditions reached up to 45 ppm. The mean suction flow rate was 114 mL/s, and the average noise level was 48 dB, indicating both high collection efficiency and environmental compatibility for public use. Conclusions The negative‐pressure system effectively contained gaseous contaminants at the emission source, reducing their concentrations to below the 5‐ppm detection limit and preventing measurable dispersion into the surrounding air. These findings provide a scientific foundation for active prevention in public health engineering. Future policy integration into the Public Restroom Act and Building Facility Standards, along with R&D and certification support, would strengthen institutional adoption. The Etish‐D1st system presents an innovative sanitary technology with potential to enhance restroom hygiene and establish a new international standard for infection prevention infrastructure.
Song et al. (Thu,) studied this question.