While I was in Vancouver last week, one of the pervasive concerns amongst the crew – none of whom were Canadian except for me – was not getting sick.
This was especially true for the moms in the group who, even though they were in professional mode and sans kids, found themselves seriously concerned about taking something home to their families.
Folks are on a much more extreme sense of high alert about picking up something while traveling this Winter season. The primary and quick solution in just about every one’s pocket is hand sanitizer.
Yes, it’s definitely true that most cold and flu are transmitted on your hands. In fact, the Vancouver Island Health Authority has stated firmly that hand washing, wiping down of public door handles, carts at grocery stores and other places where that sort of transmission is inevitable, is the primary way to keep yourself and your family healthy this year.
But, I’ve also read and heard a TON lately about how the extensive use of hand sanitizer actually breaks down your body’s immune system and makes it less able to fight the germs that slip through.
In fact, the Comox Valley’s own Watershed Sentinel has a great piece by Philip Dickey talking about the dangers of over-sanitizing your personal cleaning routine with anti-bacterials and more.
That really got me wondering if all of this sanitizing makes sense – and exactly what goes into those things. One of the major comments every time someone squirted a bit this weekend was “Who broke out the alcohol?” Sanitizers smell so bad.
So, as I often do, I went and checked out the Environmental Working Group (EWG) Cosmetic Safety Database to see what’s in some of the sanitizers that hang out in my bag and the bags of other moms I know. The results, well, it definitely made me think twice about using the cheap .99 cent hand sanitizer – or even some of the more common brands – as a regular hand washing method.
Here are some of the brands that surprisingly rated quite badly according to the rating system used by EWG – a highly respected, non-partisan public advocacy organization out of the United States.
One sanitizer that shows up in my bin at home is Dial Antibacterial. It rates a 7. That rating is pretty darn bad, really. When you take a look at what some of the ingredients are linked to, in terms of health concerns, it makes you think twice.
I am not a scientist, nor do I claim to be an expert on hand sanitizers. This is an information share and should only be used for those purposes.
One of my other favorites is Method Sweet Water. It’s about mid-range on the EWG scale, which is very surprising to me, as it rates a 5. Since Method pushes its environmentally responsible mandate and ingredients, I was disappointed and wondered what other labels I would find on the naughty list. Hmmm…
One that almost everyone uses and sees as THE hand sanitizer is Purell. The instant hand sanitizer rates a 5.
That was enough of a downer for me. So, I went looking for some of the ones that ranked lower on the hazard scale. I was happy to see that Nexcare rates a 2. This one shows up in our store-bought first-aid kit and slightly eases my anxiety.
The other one that I really like is EO Hand, which rates a 2 as well. Still not stellar as the concerns about reproductive toxicity and other system-interrupting ingredients make me flinch.
The safest in the database was All Terrain, which rated a 1.
That alcohol smell in hand sanitizer is something that shows up across the board – Ethyl Alcohol – and is associated with some health concerns that I wasn’t aware of.
And, if hand sanitizer is one of those occasional things that comes out after the petting zoo or watching a sick person sneeze into their hand and then turn the door handle of the door your kids are about to push open themselves… well, that may be worth it.
But, we went through three bottles of hand sanitizer in Vancouver. It was like lotion, and the fear of germs was intense.
I wonder if one fear outweighs the other and if there is a safe way to combat germs. What do you think about the hand sanitizer movement?
We all seem to have beat off major bugs during this business trip. But, I just keep wondering…
Photos courtesy of Dial, Method, Nexcare and EO Hand.
I am a firm believer in the ‘dirt don’t hurt’ school of thinking. We sleep with windows open – even in winter – and keep the furnace as little used as possible. We wear layers – even to bed! We love flannelet and hot water bottles. We dig, and dig in, dirt. A lot. We don’t scrub our counters with bleach. We all had H1N1 flu shots.
That said, we have two sanitisers at home now – in the kitchen and the bathroom. These are used less than once per day. They are for the ‘direct hit’ sneeze, or the productive-cough hand, only. They are also psychologically reassuring for our more squeamish visitors. But I figure that, if we take yoghurt with active cultures, why am I trying to kill “99.9%” of germs? Some of those germ-guys are good for us.
We have heard that the government is looking to ban these babies. In the States a few years ago, there were reports of children dying from these. The chemicals in some sanitizers have also been shown to be in fairly high concentrations in breast milk. EW. I believe that there is a lot of research around how harmful these actually are. What happened to soap and water? Especially at school. The kids are encouraged to use hand sanitizer rather than actually go to a sink, and use soap and hot water. It frightens me because I know how much time kids spend with their hands in their mouths, up their noses and rubbing their eyes; and everytime they do this, they are ingesting alcohol and myriad other harmful chemicals. I don’t believe that we are keeping our kids healthy for the long term when we use these products.
They now sell new alcohol free hand sanitizers that are just as effective but are non toxic, non flammable and non drying to your skin. Check it out at http://www.sourcemp.com. I found it through my daycare center, it’s amazing!
Another safe and good option is Clean Well – site is http://www.cleanwelltoday.com/
Check it out.
I do like to use hand sanitizer when we use porta-potties etc but don’t feel entirely confortable with the store bought versions. I found a recipe on the Crafty Crow for a natural hand sanitizer that is aloe based and uses essential oils that have anti-bacterial etc. properties. I am going to give it a go.
I used to use alcohol-based hand sanitizer religiously when I lived in Vancouver and rode transit. But unreliable schedules and some truly disgusting occurrences while riding made me re-think my transportation method and I began riding my bicycle instead. This was a great decision on all counts, and I stopped buying hand sanitizer – soap and water were readily available at both ends of my ride.
Now I have my own store, and all the public contact that comes along with it, and a little one to think about during cold and flu season. He gets his hands wiped regularly while we’re at work (he comes with me) and I wash my hands a LOT (enough to create dry-skin problems). But old habits die hard, and I still want some kind of hand-sanitizer for my bag for situations without soap and water (like the grocery store).
I bought a bottle of Clean Well all-natural hand sanitizer at Edible Island, which is made of a blend of essential plant oils, kills 99.9% of germs, and is just as effective as the alcohol-based kind, without any of the toxic ingredients. One of the main ingredients is oil of thyme. It also does not contain Triclosan, a potential endocrine disruptor, leading to reproductive problems among others. It smells nice too, like citrus and thyme, and doesn’t have alcohol so that smell isn’t present.
I can’t honestly remember exactly how much the Clean Well cost, but it was around $5 (maybe closer to $10?). I’m usually pretty frugal, but since I don’t use it too often I don’t mind that it cost more – to me it’s worth it.
http://www.cleanwelltoday.com/#/handsanitizer/
What a great, lively discussion!
Thanks ladies for so many great tips and insight.
One that you might investigate is called Soapopular. It is an alcohol free foaming skin sanitizer that is made in Toronto and available locally from Shoppers Drug Mart. I have several pump bottles around my clinic for people to use. Because it is foaming it spreads easily between fingers and gets into the skin folds easily.
It does dry a bit more slowly than the alcohol based ones but well worth the wait to not have your skin dry out and crack with prolonged use. Another HUGE bonus is that it is completely scent free.
chris
I have a safe, alcohol-free tip….my child came home from school saying they learned to cough and sneeze into their elbow with Germy Wormie, and I was totally taken aback. I always covered with my hands. But I went to the website and now I get it, hands touch, elbows don’t!! Kids can touch 300 surfaces in 1/2 hour and they hate to wash their hands. This is a simple thing that can make a huge difference. There is also an entertaining DVD that teaches them in a fun way the elbow cough, as well as other important hygiene habits.
I would highly recommend that hand sanitizer users understand the myths of the effectiveness of the product they are using. Most people WRONGLY believe that a singel application of hand sanitizer will offer up to 1 hour of germ killing effectiveness. The fact is that a single application will kill germs on contact, however, once the alcohol evaporates, there is no germ killing effectiveness. The next item you touch will reinfect your hand with germs. You have to ask yourself what benefit that an instant hand sanitizer really provides. There is only one hand sanitizing product on the market that i have purchased that offers a long lasting germ killing effectiveness. According to their label, SkinWear offers up to 8 hours of protection with a single application. It is alcohol free and offers moisturizing and soil blocking features as well. Price is about equal to the standard alcohol based product. I strongly recommend this product. I have been using this for about 6 months and I absolutely love the way it feels and smells on my hands. Great product. Try it.