Does waterless hand sanitizer remove bacteria from hands or kill them? What is the active ingredient in the waterless hand sanitizer you used? What disadvantages do you see with applying this substance to your skin?
Added by Thomas H.
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Rubbing spreads the product and may mechanically remove a few organisms or dirt, but the sanitizer’s chemicals do the killing/inactivation. Show more…
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A student is shopping for antibacterial hand cleansers and is trying to decide which one to buy. One is a "waterless" hand gel containing 70% isopropanol, the second is an "antibacterial" hand soap containing triclosan (a phenolic), and the third is a wipe that lists benzethonium chloride (a synthetic quaternary ammonium salt) as the active ingredient. Compare and contrast these cleansers in terms of the action of the antimicrobial ingredient and the level of disinfection (degerming, germistatic, germicidal).
Adi S.
A student is shopping for an antimicrobial hand cleanser and is trying to decide which one to buy. One is a "waterless" hand gel containing 70% isopropanol, and the second is a wipe that lists benzethonium chloride (a synthetic quaternary ammonium salt) as the active ingredient. Briefly discuss these cleansers in terms of the action of the antimicrobial ingredient and the level of disinfection.
Jorge V.
In an effort to become a healthier, cleaner society, we all understand the importance of hand washing. Soap companies in the last few years have introduced antibacterial soaps with the main antibacterial ingredient Triclosan. Triclosan was banned from soap products in 2016 but is still allowed in toothpaste. These large companies also promote hand sanitizers, which are primarily alcohol (about 70%), and don't require water and rinsing. Many hospitals now allow employees to skip hand washing between patients if the hands are not visibly soiled, and instead use just hand sanitizers. Today there are over 200 different types of antibacterial soaps on the market, so, with all these soaps and hand sanitizer products, shouldn't we be much healthier? In actuality disease rates have not changed due to the increase usage of these products! Moreover, Triclosan does not readily degrade and is said to stay active in the water, thus opening an opportunity for bacteria to become resistant to Triclosan and other similar antibacterial agents. Hand sanitizers may destroy the bacterial cell wall, but with no rinsing the dirt and other molecules are still on your hands. So what should we do? Stop using antibacterial soaps? Should we formulate new ones? Or should we just use the Hand sanitizers? Or not? Do you think and sanitizers are increasing bacterial drug resistance as well? Should we just go back to old fashioned bar soap? Is it OK for clinicians to just use hand sanitizer between patients?
Caitlyn H.
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