Sammy and Leo Marcus, of Winnipeg, have turned their own sensitivities to the startlingly loud automatic toilets in public washrooms, into a prize-winning science project that’s shedding a light on the plight of young kids and also people who wear hearing aids. The teens, who are 13 year old twins, measured hundreds of devices in hundreds of bathrooms across the Manitoba capitol, to document just how loud are those whirring automatic hand driers, the paper towel dispensers, the urinals and the hands-free flushing toilets. They found that not only do these noises cause anxiety, but also often blow past the acceptable legal noise levels that can lead to hearing damage, over a sustained period of time, and require ear protection, especially for janitors and others who work in bathrooms. Curiously, they found that of all the buildings in their survey, the Jewish ones have the quietest restrooms. Their scientific research just won the duo top prize for their age category in Winnipeg’s city-wide annual science fair. They call their project The Royal Flush. And while the research has ended, for now, the hope is their work will prompt real change in how bathrooms are designed–not just for maximum hygiene, but also keeping hearing safety in mind. On this episode of The CJN Daily, Sammy and Leo Marcus join to reveal the best and the worst of their findings, and how they coped with strange looks, strict librarians, and grungy stalls.

Related links

Read more about the Winnipeg Schools’ Science Fair where the Marcus teens presented alongside 130 other projects.

Credits

Host and writer: Ellin Bessner (@ebessner)
Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Andrea Varsany (producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer)
Music: Dov Beck-Levine

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These twin brothers' science project found noisy public washrooms aren't just scary–they're dangerous to your health