22/04/2020
𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙦𝙪𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙤𝙣 𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙖𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙡𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙞𝙩 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙗𝙚 𝙖 𝙜𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙖 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙞𝙣𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙤𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙧𝙚𝙛𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚.
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𝟏. 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐜𝐨𝐡𝐨𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐬?
Alcohol is effective at killing different types of microbes, including both viruses and bacteria, because it unfolds and inactivates their proteins.
This process, which is called denaturation, will cripple and often kill the microbe because its proteins will unfold and stick together. Heat can also denature some proteins — for example, when you cook an egg, the solidified egg whites are denatured proteins.
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𝟐. 𝐀𝐥𝐜𝐨𝐡𝐨𝐥 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐬 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥 — 𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐧𝐨𝐭?
There are different types of bacteria and viruses, and some types are more easily killed by alcohol. For example, E. coli bacteria, which can cause food borne illness and other infections, are very effectively killed by alcohol at concentrations over 60%. Differences in the outside surface of various bacteria make alcohol sanitisation more effective against some of them than others.
Similarly, some viruses have an outer wrapping, which is called an envelope, while others are non-enveloped. Alcohol is effective at killing enveloped viruses, including the coronavirus, but is less effective at killing non-enveloped viruses.
Whether you are trying to kill bacteria or viruses, many research studies have found that an alcohol concentration of 60% or greater is needed to be effective.
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𝟑. 𝐈𝐟 𝟔𝟎% 𝐚𝐥𝐜𝐨𝐡𝐨𝐥 𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝, 𝐢𝐬 𝟏𝟎𝟎% 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫?
Surprisingly, no. Protein denaturation actually works faster when a small amount of water is mixed with the alcohol. And pure alcohol would evaporate too quickly to effectively kill bacteria or viruses on your skin, especially during winter when the air is less humid.
Using 100% alcohol also would dry your skin out very quickly and cause it to become irritated. That might cause you to not sanitise your hands as frequently as needed. This is why most hand sanitisers contain emollients, which are mixtures that help soften and moisturise your skin.
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𝟒. 𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐚?
In my view, no. You may see do-it-yourself formulas online, including some that use vodka. However, vodka is typically 80 proof, which means it's only 40% alcohol. That's not high enough to effectively kill microbes.
The rubbing alcohol you have in your bathroom for cuts and scrapes might seem like a good alternative, but if you are already near a sink, the best choice is to wash your hands with soap and hot water.
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𝟓. 𝐃𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐞?
Most commercial hand sanitisers are effective for a couple of years (please refer to hand sanitisers manufacturing date and expiry date) when they are stored properly and are marked with expiration dates.
One thing to keep in mind is that alcohol is volatile, which means that over time the alcohol will slowly evaporate and the sanitiser will lose its ability to effectively kill viruses and bacteria.
However, with hand sanitiser in such high demand now, you're unlikely to buy one that is expired.
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* 𝘊𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘵 : 𝘉𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘐𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘳 (𝘉𝘪𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘑𝘦𝘧𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘺 𝘎𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘯𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘢𝘭𝘤𝘰𝘩𝘰𝘭 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘬𝘦𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘳, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦.) *
