2 bizarre 'bathroom wellness' trends with hidden health risks
Industry Buzz
If you’re exposed to mold, you can develop breathing problems that range from mild to severe.
—Lamia Ibrahim, MD, Cleveland Clinic critical care pulmonologist
Across the country, homeowners are turning their bathrooms into wellness sanctuaries, complete with spa-style “wet rooms” and even toilets that double as health monitors. But as design and technology converge in the pursuit of modern self-care, the movement may be creating as many health concerns as it hopes to solve.
From the moisture-laden air of door-less showers that can harbor mold and fungi, to the optical sensors now peering into toilet bowls in the name of early disease detection, these trends reveal a common paradox: In our quest to make bathrooms healthier, we may also be inviting new biological and ethical hazards inside.
The rise of the 'wet room'
A new Houzz survey reports that 1 in 6 renovated bathrooms now includes a “wet room,” a spa-style space designed to get completely soaked. []
These luxurious setups, which often lack traditional shower doors, are being hailed as symbols of modern wellness and accessibility. But behind the sleek aesthetic, experts—and physicians—see potential risks lurking in the moisture.
Think open showers with floor-to-ceiling glass or no partition at all, radiant floor heating, and even freestanding tubs. [] Designers say the appeal lies in accessibility and aesthetics: fewer barriers, easier cleaning, and a seamless look. But that simplicity comes at a biological cost when water—and humidity—escape the intended zones.
Open showers can become breeding grounds for mold, fungi, and bacteria, potentially triggering or worsening respiratory and dermatologic conditions. For patients with asthma, allergies, or compromised immune systems, the consequences can be more than cosmetic.
“Inside homes and other buildings, mold grows in high-humidity locations, like basements and showers, and especially in areas where poor ventilation prevents water from drying quickly," said critical care pulmonologist Lamia Ibrahim, MD. []
The American Lung Association warns that exposure to indoor mold and dampness can irritate the eyes, skin, nose, throat, and lungs—and can exacerbate asthma and other respiratory diseases. [] Even in well-designed wet rooms, steam accumulation and inadequate ventilation can encourage colonization of things like Aspergillus, Penicillium, Cladosporium, and Stachybotrys bacteria.
These risks are compounded in households with older adults or patients with COPD, cystic fibrosis, or diabetes—conditions where opportunistic infections can thrive.
Related: Freaky fungi: Your patients' newest fearIn-toilet cameras offer 'health insights'
If you thought the bathroom mirror was the last frontier for health-tracking devices, think again. Kohler’s newly announced system, named Dekoda, is essentially a surveillance tool for the toilet bowl. []
It mounts on most standard toilets via a simple clamp, uses optical spectroscopy and internal sensors to “see” into the bowl, and then analyzes shape, consistency, frequency, and even the presence of blood in the waste.
From a clinical perspective, the promise is real: Daily bowel habits can be incredibly important diagnostically—but notoriously hard to monitor outside the clinic.
Dekoda sends data to a mobile app (via a subscription model) and can alert the user when something unusual is detected—like blood in the stool—which might prompt earlier medical attention.
In an era where early detection is key, especially for gastrointestinal disease, this could be an adjunct to home monitoring.
Of course, as clinicians we must ask: What is the sensitivity and specificity of such a sensor platform for detecting true pathology rather than false positives? And how will the data integrate—if at all—with traditional electronic health records, or with our workflow in the clinic?
Kohler states that the device cannot identify the origin of blood (for example, upper GI vs lower GI) and that the toilet bowl sensor is limited by lighting and bowl color—dark-colored toilets reduce performance.
In short: it may be a useful signal, but not a diagnostic replacement.
There are also important ethical, privacy and patient-engagement dimensions. The product uses a fingerprint remote to distinguish users, and data are end-to-end encrypted as it passes into the Kohler Health app.
Still, patients (or their families) might wonder how comfortable they are with an optical sensor inspecting excreta in the home. Moreover, there may be questions around how patients interpret “alerts” or “insights” and whether it drives unnecessary anxiety or unnecessary clinic referrals.