Last night, The National's Consumer News Unit revealed that using hand sanitizer didn't kill 99.99 % of germs on the hands of students who had just returned to the classroom from their lunch hour. Three products that claim to kill 99.9% of germs on their bottles were tested on the students.
The expert who supervised the classroom test, has done hundreds of tests on hand sanitizer in his Ottawa lab. He said the classroom test results were lower than the 99.9% claims because the products are tested in controlled laboratory conditions where hands are washed and made scrupulously clean before germs are artifically applied, and then hand sanitizer. In real world conditions, which are how people actually use sanitizer, hands may be dirty and oily, and they may or may not be properly washed first, so he was not surprised the results were lower.
Interestingly too, the expert had questioned each student about what they had touched before coming to class, and how often they washed their hands that day. He found those students who claimed to have washed their hands only 3 times a day lowered each products effectiveness substantially; and where students claimed to wash at least 9 times a day, the product was very effective. From this test it appears that it's important to keep the hands very clean to make the most of the product. And in fact all hand sanitizers promote the importance of good hand washing.
How do you use hand sanitizers? And when you read the claim that it kills 99.9% of germs what do you expect?
i do use hand sanitizers but i don't believe the 99.9% as they claimed because it was conducted in a sterile laboratory which is a very controlled environment. the lab technicians artificially put the germs on their hands and stimulate the environment in the hands from perti dishes . On the other side of the coin, where you are out in the real world, germs runs rampant . Everything we touched will be transferred to our eyes, noses and mouths and not in a controlled environment and not everyone washes their hands after handling food or going to the bathrooms. I do use them to protect myself but it only take a small window for a germ to get thorough and I am down with a cold.
How come no one does the story about the new sanitizers on the market which are alcohol-free? There are new products that kill 3 times the germs, work up to 30 minutes, and they are safer to use than alcohol.
Common Sense -- sadly not so common anymore. It would seem self-evident that if you maintain cleanliness - you ARE cleaner. Bacterial contamination is not the most serious thing we have to contend with and the use of the sanitizers and regular hygiene should be sufficient. Unfortunately will this article start a call for more effective bacterial controls... maybe we should make people boil their hands before using. It works for water