Hand Sanitizer: Slowly Murdering You From the Inside Out

Good evening, you know what irks me? Hand sanitizer.

Who recalls the swine flu “pandemic” that swept the country a year or so ago? Does anyone recall the amount if hand sanitizer suddenly seen everywhere immediately afterward? It’s still everywhere. It’s in schools, restaurants, government buildings, and hospitals. But have you really thought that much of it before smearing your hands with it, possibly multiple times per day?

Here’s some background on hand sanitizers. They usually contain either ethyl alcohol (the same kind found in liquor, perfumes, and shaving creams) or isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol). The alcohol content is quite high (Anywhere from 50-90%, with the average being around 68%). But what about the ones that don’t contain alcohol? I’m glad you asked that. Those products use benzalkonium chloride to kill the germs. This compound is associated with an increased risk of MRSA, which is not only one of the nastiest diseases known to man, it is also next to impossible to treat. For the record, many hospitals use a special product called “hand alcohol” on their staff, which is a combination of alcohol and benzalkonium chloride. And MRSA is most commonly contracted where? In the hospital. That’s right. Other than MRSA, this compound is also connected to the production of dioxin. Dioxin is what makes Agent Orange bad for people. It’s nasty, and causes every type of cancer you can come up with.

I would bet that more than a few of us, myself included, have seen parents swabbing down their children with hand sanitizer multiple times per day. The CDC even recommends doing this. I take great issue with this. Children have a particular interest in sticking their fingers in their mouths. Long term effects from ingesting small amounts of alcohol-based hand sanitizer of the course of a few months are horrifying. Like brain and liver damage. Not to mention increased risk of cancer. Lovely. The good news is that your kid would have to drink a shot glass sized amount in one go for the product to be immediately fatal. So your child won’t just keel over and die.

But the issues aren’t just for tiny humans, they affect adults too. Cancer, birth defects, and organ damage have all been noted in adults who use sanitizers multiple times per day. This is caused by the ingredients actually being absorbed into your skin. It’s also flammable, but let’s assume that that risk is negligible.

I’m not here to be fear mongering; we’ll leave that up to Dr. Oz. I just think that more people should be informed about the choices that they are making that will ultimately effect your health. An independent study has shown that using sanitizer a few times a week is perfectly acceptable, but multiple times per day is a recipe for disaster. As well, whatever happened to washing your hands? I understand that sometimes it is difficult to find soap...and water...in the same place, at the same time, but whenever possible, I think that you should probably choose a good scrub down versus the Purell.

Now would be a good time to mention that Purell brand hand sanitizer is mentioned on the CDC website, along with a description of how “it leaves your hands soft and refreshed”. If the CDC did not get a big wad of cash out of that, I’m not sure what to think.

But I digress.