Welcome Guest! The IOSH forums are a free resource to both members and non-members. Login or register to use them

Postings made by forum users are personal opinions. IOSH is not responsible for the content or accuracy of any of the information contained in forum postings. Please carefully consider any advice you receive.

Notification

Icon
Error

Options
Go to last post Go to first unread
Mosh  
#1 Posted : 05 July 2020 20:44:11(UTC)
Rank: Forum user
Mosh

There are hand sanitisers that are being marketed as being effective for up to 24 hours. What are your thoughts about this? I'm no expert in sanitisers, but to me it sounds misleading at best to say that you can wash your hands once in the morning and then basically forget about it for the rest of the day. After all, if that would be the case there would be no need for official guidelines to frequently wash hands and commonly touched surfaces. Just clean them once a day and everyone's happy...
Roundtuit  
#2 Posted : 05 July 2020 21:43:54(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
Roundtuit

"If it sounds too good to be true..." then generally its a marketing lie.

It is the alcohol that is the effective agent in most commercially available sanitisers - if the alcohol evaporates at skin temperature how will it still be present 24 hours later?

If it is one of the other "active" ingredients where is the laboratory evaluation against a recognised European standard to prove this claimed efficacy? Lots of snake oil preparations out there pointing to various global "government" citations BUT none seen to date with actual verified test evidence especially and specifcally for Covid-19.

thanks 2 users thanked Roundtuit for this useful post.
Mosh on 06/07/2020(UTC), Mosh on 06/07/2020(UTC)
Roundtuit  
#3 Posted : 05 July 2020 21:43:54(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
Roundtuit

"If it sounds too good to be true..." then generally its a marketing lie.

It is the alcohol that is the effective agent in most commercially available sanitisers - if the alcohol evaporates at skin temperature how will it still be present 24 hours later?

If it is one of the other "active" ingredients where is the laboratory evaluation against a recognised European standard to prove this claimed efficacy? Lots of snake oil preparations out there pointing to various global "government" citations BUT none seen to date with actual verified test evidence especially and specifcally for Covid-19.

thanks 2 users thanked Roundtuit for this useful post.
Mosh on 06/07/2020(UTC), Mosh on 06/07/2020(UTC)
chris.packham  
#4 Posted : 06 July 2020 08:26:43(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
chris.packham

Absolutely not! If it were it would be positively dangerous. Our skin has its own microbiome. There can be >10,000 bacteria in one sq. cm of skin. They perform a positive function in that they help create a skin surface that help inhibit colonisation by transient micro-organisms. Anything that damages these commensal flora will make it easier for transients to colonise the skin (COVID-10 anyone?) The whole point of alcohol sanitiser is that it only has a relatively short effect on the commensal flora and, by not damaging the skin's natural hydro-lipidic surface film, does not affect the skin's pH and thus reduce its protective capabilities - unlike hand washing which may remove the micro-organisms on the surface but also removcs the hydro-lipoidic film allowing the skin to lose too much moisture and thus create a less effective skin barrier. This is why hand washing should always be followed by moisturising.  If anyone would like more on this just PM me with contact details and I will respond.

thanks 3 users thanked chris.packham for this useful post.
stevedm on 06/07/2020(UTC), peter gotch on 06/07/2020(UTC), Mosh on 06/07/2020(UTC)
Users browsing this topic
Guest
You cannot post new topics in this forum.
You cannot reply to topics in this forum.
You cannot delete your posts in this forum.
You cannot edit your posts in this forum.
You cannot create polls in this forum.
You cannot vote in polls in this forum.