Hand Sanitizers - Unsafe

How many places have you gone recently that have those containers of hand sanitizers available? They are at the grocery store, in our classrooms, in the bathrooms, hanging on the walls in the hospital room. When did we become so paranoid about germs that we have to spread poison on our skin to get rid of them? What happened to plain old soap and water? Is it a sign that we are too lazy to wash our hands, or is it paranoia about germs?

There are documented cases of children exhibiting symptoms of alcohol poisoning after being exposed to the alcohol based sanitizers. There are multiple reasons for this. Small children put their hands in their mouths. This transfers the ingredients directly to their systems. The skin on the hands also absorbs those chemicals and delivers them directly into the bloodstream. Small children are by definition small. The amount that comes out of the convenient pump is way too much for their little systems to handle. Children love to ‘dispense’ things and typical usually twice to five times as much as an adult would use. They also look for excuses to go back multiple times

Baby wipes contain some similar chemicals and can be used on multiple parts of the tiny body multiple times during the day. There was an episode of the television show Hawthorne that showed a mom being arrested for giving her baby alcohol poisoning because she wiped her down with wipes four and five times a day. You say that couldn’t happen in real life, but there are mothers that think the wipes are ‘safer’ than a wet wash cloth.

The funny thing is that these chemicals don’t work the way they are advertised to work. By definition they are chemicals. Bacteria can become immune to chemicals. This is one of the reasons we now have MRSA and flesh eating bacteria that our doctors don’t know how to deal with.

One of the chemicals commonly used in these products is called triclosan. The FDA has determined this chemical is neither safe nor effective, but because they refuse to pull it from the market it is continuing to be sold and used. It is also used in antibacterial soaps.

These products have been shown to be endocrine disruptors. This means they mess up the delicate hormonal balance within the body. Disrupting this balance can cause reproductive problems, including infertility and miscarriage. It can also lead to seemingly unrelated issues such as diabetes and cancer. In children it can cause girls to hit puberty at a very early age, and boys to look and act more like little girls.

Even the ones that don’t have triclosan are not safe. There have been stories in the news of people bursting in to flame. Research shows that in most cases they had just used an alcohol based sanitizer. Alcohol is flammable, and it doesn’t have to be wet in order to burn. A small amount left on the skin can feel dry, without being dry enough to be safe.

There are other things that we can use in those cases where soap and water are not available. A small amount of colloidal silver mixed with distilled water is safe to use and effective against bacteria, virus, and fungus. Add a few drops of an essential oil (there are a multitude of them that are antibacterial and antiviral) and you have something that is safe, effective and smells nice.

Man lived for thousands of years without chemicals. Why do we now feel we have to use chemicals to be safe and healthy? Why don’t we go back to the basics and do things the right way, instead of just the easy way?