Hand Sanitizer Study

[easysurfer]

Watching new today, this study caught my attention:

Soap Ingredient Triclosan Linked to Muscle Weakness - ABC News


Looks like another thing to add on the list that may or may not be bad for you.

 

[Midpack]

After a lifetime of (mostly irresponsible) reports on what's bad for you, then good for you, then bad again, I rarely pay attention to those kinds of articles. We seemed to get along pretty well before the advent of hyper cleanliness and germaphobia. So I try to keep this simple old pearl in mind when I shop. "Don't buy products with more than five ingredients or any ingredients you can't easily pronounce." Seems to work well enough...

 

[easysurfer]

Maybe a good rule of thumb is when you use hand sanitizer is to immediately afterwards wash that off with soap and water

 

[panacea]

Maybe a good rule of thumb is when you use hand sanitizer is to immediately afterwards wash that off with soap and water

... and then use the hand sanitizer again because there are so many germs on the faucet handles!

 

[Animorph]

Our parents had it right a long time ago: "Don't touch anything!"

 

[rodi]

Just a clarification.

Triclosan is in anti-bacterial soaps... not hand sanitizer.
Think of the soap pump bottles you put next to the sink.

Hand sanitizer (like Purell) are usually alcohol based. So the active ingredient evaporates quickly. You rub it on - then it evaporates.

My sister is a teacher - she goes through MASS quantities of hand sanitizer... but avoids the anti-bacterial soaps w/ triclosan like the plague.

We have the triclosan stuff in a dispenser in our breakroom. They had to post a warning stating it contained triclosan. (CA has strict laws about this stuff.) Someone also printed out the wikipedia page about triclosan and hung that next to the soap dispenser... it was taken down immediately.

Good hand washing with soap and water is as effective as triclosan in most cases. You just have to wash your hands longer than many people do. My sister (the teacher) taught my kids to sing happy birthday while washing their hands... that's about the minimum time you should spend.

 

[MBAustin]

Just a clarification.

Triclosan is in anti-bacterial soaps... not hand sanitizer.
Think of the soap pump bottles you put next to the sink.

Hand sanitizer (like Purell) are usually alcohol based. So the active ingredient evaporates quickly. You rub it on - then it evaporates.

I decided several months ago to stop buying "antibacterial" soaps after reading a number of articles about triclosan having potentially bad effects and not really being that much better at killing bacteria on the hands anyway. The hardest thing has been giving up the wonderful foaming soaps from Bath & Body Works, all of which have triclosan. I even asked if they were planning to make any of the non-antibacterial soaps in the foaming style, and they said no - they get asked the question all the time. So I've switched to Method foaming soap, which isn't as nice but works fine. By the way, the Method spray kitchen cleaner works great and even without triclosan is very good at sanitizing (I read test results somewhere but don't remember where).

 

[rodi]

As someone who tries to be green/eco friendly and would cut dryer sheets in half if I weren't hanging the clothes on the laundry lines.... Why use Method for cleaning your kitchen.

Vinegar, with perhaps a touch of tea tree oil works great as a kitchen cleaner. My husband always jokes that everytime I clean he gets an urge for a salad. I have a spray bottle that I use... it has 99% vinegar, 1 drop tea tree oil, 2 drops liquid dish soap.
It's super cheap - and everything I've read - it sanitizes great.

Best of all - costco sells big jugs of vinegar for super cheap.
http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/foodnut/kitchen-sanitize.pdf

 

[Midpack]

As someone who tries to be green/eco friendly and would cut dryer sheets in half if I weren't hanging the clothes on the laundry lines.... Why use Method for cleaning your kitchen.

Cause it's eco-chic, premium $, and that's what some people are after...

 

[samclem]

"Don't buy products with more than five ingredients or any ingredients you can't easily pronounce." Seems to work well enough...

I wonder if those muscle fibers in the study referenced in the OP would have been weakened if, instead of triclorosan, they'd been sitting in a stew of such simple things as CH3(CH2)7CH=CH(CH2)7COOH, CH3(CH2)16CO2H, and CH3(CH2)14CO2H (the active ingredients in Ivory Soap)?

 

[Midpack]

So I try to keep this simple old pearl in mind when I shop. "Don't buy products with more than five ingredients or any ingredients you can't easily pronounce." Seems to work well enough...

I wonder if those muscle fibers in the study referenced in the OP would have been weakened if, instead of triclorosan, they'd been sitting in a stew of such simple things as CH3(CH2)7CH=CH(CH2)7COOH, CH3(CH2)16CO2H, and CH3(CH2)14CO2H (the active ingredients in Ivory Soap)?

I've never liked or bought Ivory soap, probably only used it once or twice at a hotel. Nasty stuff regardless of what it's made of...

 

[Meadbh]

BTW, hand sanitizer should contain at least 60% alcohol to be effective.

 

[Notmuchlonger]

Feel bad for medical people. They wash their hands quite a bit. If you have a loved one get them something nice for their hands as a gift

 

[Meadbh]

Feel bad for medical people. They wash their hands quite a bit. If you have a loved one get them something nice for their hands as a gift

Thanks for the consideration! Hand cleansing products have improved quite a bit in the past decade. I remember a time when some nurses and physicians had raw, inflamed hands from constantly washing with harsh products like chlorhexidine. Skin irritation and breaks defeated the purpose.