The Filthy Truth About Hand Sanitizers
| Written by Sarah Cain Friday, 12 June 2009 16:11 |
  |
The F.D.A. has finally recalled something that was not an all natural dietary supplement, or a vegetable, and of course, it was most certainly not a pill. It was yet another 'voluntary recall', which means that the F.D.A. warned a company of a severe public relations problem with its product, and then it allowed the corporation to choose whether or not to recall the product. Vioxx was 'voluntarily recalled' too after killing 20,000, so be on the lookout for Vioxx being resold under another name.
Hand sanitizers have become extremely common in workplace environments, and more notably; inside schools and hospitals. In fact, when our Zachary entered the Davie County Public Schools, his teacher thought that we were crazy for not allowing them to use their chemical hand sanitizers, which they insisted should always be used prior to eating. These dangerous chemicals are not washed or rubbed off; but instead, they actually penetrate through the skin into the blood. That is, if you ignore the fact that many kids have become seriously ill after eating the hand sanitizer that has been placed on their skin by teachers: for young children explore the world with their mouthes at least as much as they do with their eyes and hands. Public school teachers are apparently okay with children touching their food with filthy, chemically-laced hands, instead of cleaned, hygienic, and sanitary hands.
There is actually a case of a hand sanitizer being recalled for "containing high levels of disease-causing bacteria". I'm sure it really stings for the company involved (Clarcon Biological Chemistry Laboratory Inc.), but this will hopefully alert the public that there are serious fundamental problems with using these chemicals, instead of real hygiene. I wonder how many people have even read the ingredients of hand sanitizers. After conscientiously reading them, no decent, health-concerned individual would wish to use them, or ever give them to children.
The F.D.A. reported that a bacteria found living inside of hand sanitizers is a type found in particularly unsanitary conditions, so the use of hand sanitizers can mean becoming more unsanitary. The truth is, even when hand sanitizers work exactly as they are designed to, they still do not kill bacteria, fungal spores, or any viruses that lack membranes (which includes the cold viruses and viruses that cause gastrointestinal disturbances). What exactly do these chemicals accomplish, other than suppress the immune system? The F.D.A. unbelievably found that bacteria was also present in other Clarcon products, which are intended to be placed inside of cuts and open wounds, to supposedly prevent infection.
I believe that as a society, we are going to such extremes to make life convenient, that we are neglecting the time tested things that actually work. I think that it is long past the time when we should return to using soap and water, to paper voting ballots, and to using silver as a medicine. None of these are expensive solutions, which would require new chemical industry segments to be created, but they do actually work, so let us be a little more cautious about fixing things that were never broken.
Related Articles
More About Triclosan: How The Chemical Industry Is Secretly Poisoning Us Again
WebMD: Plain Soaps Just as Good as Antibacterial
Helping Hands: Healing Chemical Damage From the Inside and Out
Lawsuit: Antimicrobial Soaps Damage Reproductive Organs
Hand sanitizers are definitely not healthy. People need to start using good old fashioned soap again. Also, it should Not be anti-bacterial soap. Using antibacterial soap is liking taking a small dose of antibiotics everyday. We are meant to have some bacteria on our skin and should not be killing it every chance we get. Find a good, natural soap product and stick to that when you feel like you need to wash your hands.