- Every three minutes, a child brings his hand to his nose or mouth. Every 60 seconds, a working adult touches as many as 30 objects.
Hand sanitizers are good to use if there is no soap and water available to kill bacteria. It has to contain at least 60% alcohol in order to do the job. It might say ethyl alcohol, ethanol, isopropanol or some other variation, and those are all fine. They are not to be used to wash off dirt, blood, oil, food, etc... Alcohol is easily absorbed by the skin. Denatured alcohol is ethanol that has additives in it making it toxic.
Hand sanitizers will dry out your hands unless it has a moisturizer added to it. On the other hand, some say that the alcohol is better for your hands than plain soap.
If it says that it will kill 99% of the bacteria, the other 1% will mutate into a more resistant bacteria becoming less effective over time. On the other hand, some say that is not the case with hand sanitizers.
Hand sanitizers either have alcohol, which is highly flammable, or triclosan in them. Triclosan is known to be a pesticide and is not harmful to humans, but it hasn't been ruled out either. Knowing this, kids are building up their immunities and don't necessarily need all of the bacteria off of them all the time. Plus, they are more likely to stick their fingers in their mouth.
Hand sanitizers kill the good bacteria as well as the bad bacteria. Essential oils only kill the bad bacteria. Hand sanitizers stop working once they evaporate (dry).
Interesting facts about the Thieves Hand Purifier from Young Living Essential Oils (YLEO):
1. It has denatured ethanol using peppermint essential oil (making it not as toxic).
2. After the ethanol evaporates, the Thieves essential oil blend still remains on the skin (allowing it to have antibacterial properties longer).
3. It contains aloe vera and vegetable glycerin (to moisturize the hands).
For more information: www.oilsforhealthyliving.net
What is your take on hand sanitizers? Which brand will you use?
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