|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Claim: A WhatsApp post claims that toilet paper can cause a urinary tract infection.
Verdict: Misleading! A recent study found that women’s post-toilet wiping method (with toilet paper) from back to front can attract UTIs. However, the relationship between toilet paper and the risk of UTIs is yet to be investigated.
Full Text
Early this year, a post was shared on WhatsApp, a meta-messaging platform, claiming that toilet paper causes “urinary tract infections” in women.
The post was circulated as a precautionary message, urging women to “stay healthy.”
“Take note that toilet paper causes UTIs for women. Please stay healthy and wish you a happy new year,” the post reads.
This post, which did not show the origin or cite the source of the claim, had been forwarded many times to other contacts on that messaging application.
Seeing that the claim is a public health issue, we decided to verify.
Verification
Urinary tract infections (UTIs) affect any part of the urinary system, including the kidneys, ureters, bladder, and urethra. Most infections involve the lower urinary tract, specifically the bladder and the urethra.
Symptoms of UTIs are blood in urine, pelvic pressure, frequent and painful urination, lower belly discomfort, and strong-smelling urine. They are more common, affecting women than men.
UTIs happen when bacteria enter the bladder through the urethra and start to grow there. Toilet paper, also known as toilet tissue, is a thin, soft paper used primarily for cleaning oneself after using the toilet.
It is typically available in rolls and designed for personal hygiene after urination or defecation.
Most toilet papers are produced using a mix of 30% softwood and 70% hardwood trees, hence new or “virgin” paper.
Softwood plants (like Douglas firs and Southern pines) have long fibres that wrap around one another, giving paper its strength. Shorter fibres from hardwood trees (like oak, maple, and gum) provide softer paper.
Manufacturers use oxygen, ozone, sodium hydroxide, or peroxide to whiten toilet paper. However, producers of virgin paper frequently use chlorine-based bleaches (chlorine dioxide).
So, as stated in the claim, is there a relationship between UTIs and toilet paper?
A recent study found that women’s post-toilet wiping method (with toilet paper) from back to front can attract UTIs. However, the relationship between toilet paper and the risk of UTIs is yet to be investigated.
Ekanem Eyo, a professor of Paediatrics at the University of Calabar and former Chief Medical Director at the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital, explained that toilet paper does not cause UTIs, but the wrong method of wiping can.
According to Ekanem, “They (toilet papers) do NOT cause UTIs. I do not know if there are any chemicals in toilet paper, so I cannot comment on that.
He explained that when women wipe from back to front, they are likely to carry bacteria from the anal region to the urethra whether there are chemicals in the toilet paper or not.”
Ekanem suggested that women should wipe from the front backwards after urination or defecation.
His submission was based on his experience as the former Chief Medical Director, who had worked with gynaecologists and other consultants in different departments during his tenure at Uyo Teaching Hospital. He also noted the difficulty in getting a gynaecologist’s attention when filing this report.
Meanwhile, Kelvin Echetabu, a senior Consultant and Urological Surgeon at the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, said no chemical in toilet tissue causes Urinary Tract infection (UTI) in women when they use it.
He affirmed that wiping from the back to the front of a woman’s perineum with tissue paper and, in fact, with any other agent, can cause translocation of organisms from the anal canal to the urethra and bladder, thereby causing UTIs.
“Tissue paper, specifically (contrary to other materials used for wiping), can leave its particles when used to wipe, especially wet surfaces, including the perineum after micturating. These pieces, when driven into the urethra, can act as foreign bodies that may encourage UTIs. These particles may also contain faecal matter (faeces),” Kelvin revealed.
Conclusion
Studies and experts reveal that using tissue paper is not the direct cause of UTIs in women, but the method of wiping. The claim is, therefore, misleading.
This report was written by Toheeb Babalola, a freelance reporter, as part of an Africa Check mentorship programme funded by the United Nations Democracy Fund. The programme aims to foster the practice of fact-checking across the continent.
