Hand sanitizers are really handy. Especially when soap and running water aren't within reach
But are they worth using more often, or should you try and avoid them all together?
Hand sanitizers contain ingredients like alcohol,
which is often at 70% concentration,
that works to kill Microbes.
When left on the skin [for] 30 seconds or longer, it's able to kill 99.9%
of Bacteria present and
even certain types of viruses like influenza [a]
The sanitizer breaks open the cell membranes of these bacteria or the...
envelopes of viruses, although they're ineffective against spore releasing Bacteria and viruses without envelopes.
There are also non-alcohol based
sanitizers using other ingredients,
but depending on their combination may just be bacteriostatic
Meaning they prevent bacterial reproduction.
Of course anyone who's used Sanitizer knows that it simply spreads grime and dirt around so soap and water are necessary in these cases
to clean up, but in the absence of visible dirt which works better.
A 2009 Australian study had vaccinated hospital workers contaminate their hands with live
Influenza [a] virus and had some of them wash their hands with regular soap and water for 40 seconds
followed by paper towel drying while some of their hands with
61.5% ethanol sanitizer for 20 seconds and others used a combination of alcohol and
Antibacterials the remaining group was the control and did nothing as expected the control group had the most viral dna present
But the group with the least viral Dna was the soap and water group
despite the fact that
Sanitizer can destroy germs soap and water actually removes them from the hands and comes out as the superior method of infection [control]
but does the temperature of the water matter turns out that while hot water can kill Bacteria this only happens at
99.9 8 degrees Celsius which would burn your skin so save some [energy] and wash with cold water of course soap can also be
Antibacterial and these often contain Triclosan [so] is that even more effective?
Well it turns out that
they're typically way below the effective [1%] concentration required to cause bacterial side effects and
Studies from around the world have shown these soaps to be no better than regular soap
Furthermore Triclosan is washed down the drain and ends up in lakes and Rivers in fact
It's one of the top ten contaminates found in all American Rivers bio accumulating in many Marine organisms like dolphins
even more troubling is that Triclosan has been linked to promoting antibiotic resistance in Bacteria in a process called cross resistance as
Bacteria become resistant to Triclosan they simultaneously
evolved to resist the effects of other antibiotics
even though they haven't been exposed to them well this doesn't mean using antibacterial Soap will render your antibiotics ineffective the study highlights the
possibility of unnecessary
Antibacterial usage potentially leading to Superbugs of course a common misconception
Is that hand sanitizer causes bacterial resistance as well which in most cases?
It doesn't as they primarily use alcohol as their active ingredients
But some brands of hand sanitizer [do] include antibacterial ingredients like Triclosan
So it's important to be aware at the end of the day your best bet is always using regular soap and washing with cold water
Saving Sanitizer for sinkless situations and avoiding antibacterial soaps for the sake of your health, the environment, and future generations
But is it truly better to be clean in the first place?
We debate between being clean or dirty in our new AsapThought video (Greg and Mitch) that you can click here and look at the hygiene
hypothesis
And other studies to figure out the best way to live [your] life from a sanitary perspective.
don't forget to subscribe for more weekly science videos every Thursday. We'll see you next week. Greg insta: @Whalewatchmeplz Mitch insta: MitchellMoffitt