Hand Sanitizer Misuse

FOX NEWS REPORTS: Relying too much on popular hand cleaners could do you more harm than good.

Yahoo! posted a video report from Steve Brown with Fox News. The video describes two dangers of the overuse of hand sanitizer but omits a third. Brown correctly points out that alcohol based hand sanitizers are dangerous in high levels to children and in 2006 alone, over 12,000 cases of alcohol poisoning were reported. He is also correct in reporting that alcohol based hand sanitizers are flammable and a quick search of the term hand sanitizer on youtube will show endless demonstrations of this potential danger.

However, Brown failed to give a full report of the dangers of overusing alcohol based hand sanitizers. Alcohol based hand sanitizers actually became less effective with repeated use and also make the skin dirtier, not cleaner due to removal of protective natural skin oils and entrapment of dead skin cells by the polymer thickeners used in the gelled alcohol products (AORN Journal, (68 August 1998), p. 239-251). In other words, while alcohol based hand sanitizers are effective in the early part of the day, the more you use them, the less effective and more dangerous they become.

Thankfully, there is now a safer and more effective alternative. CLEANpHIRST offers a non-alcohol, non-toxic hand sanitizer that is 1,000 times more effective and will improve it's effectiveness with each use throughout the day... without drying out your skin.