Hand Sanitizers Won’t Save You
Good in a pinch, they don’t beat soap and water and likely may not live up to marketing claims
John Newsam rarely uses hand sanitizers. “Perhaps once every month or two,” he says. “And pretty much only when using a portaloo, when soap and water are not available.” Newsam is CEO of Tioga Research, which studies new formulas for everything from skin care products to topical drugs. With a PhD in chemistry from Oxford University, he knows that a good scrubbing with soap and water is the preferred method for ridding his hands of a wide range of infectious germs.
In a pinch, hand sanitizers are deemed useful by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), but the common marketing claims of “99.99% effectiveness” are based on laboratory tests involving certain germs, not entirely real-world efforts by sometimes imperfect and rushed humans slathering on some goop in a haphazard battle against the gamut of potentially debilitating and even deadly microbes out there.
“If soap and water are not available, using a hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol can help you avoid getting sick and spreading germs to others,” according to the CDC. This can be useful in subways or other public places where regular hand-washing isn’t possible. The agency says hand sanitizers “work well”…
