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The COVID-19 pandemic showed how important it is to keep your hands clean and properly sanitised. Although hand washing is highly recommended, the use of hand sanitisers may be necessary to keep your hands clean while on-the-go, especially when you are travelling or when you have no access to soap and clean running water. They are handy to carry around, too, especially the hand sanitizer stick, which is compact and just the right size to bring on trips. But are they effective in preventing the spread of germs and diseases? Read on to find out:
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How is a Hand Sanitizer Stick Helpful in the Prevention of Germs? The COVID-19 pandemic showed how important it is to keep your hands clean and properly sanitised. Although hand washing is highly recommended, the use of hand sanitisers may be necessary to keep your hands clean while on-the-go, especially when you are travelling or when you have no access to soap and clean running water. They are handy to carry around, too, especially the hand sanitizer stick, which is compact and just the right size to bring on trips. But are they effective in preventing the spread of germs and diseases? Read on to find out: It’s in the ingredients According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a hand sanitiser must contain at least 60 percent alcohol to be effective at sanitising hands and skin. So, it may be best to read the label and make sure that you are getting an alcohol-based hand sanitizer stick to make sure that it is helpful against bacteria and viruses. How high-quality hand sanitisers work? The alcohol works by breaking up the outer coatings of a virus or bacteria. SARS-CoV-2 is an enveloped virus. Some viruses protect themselves with a cage composed of proteins. However, they leave the cells they have infected and wrap themselves with a coat made of some of the lipid-based walls of the cells along with some of their own proteins. The lipid bilayers surrounding an enveloped virus are held together by hydrophobic interactions and hydrogen bonds. Alcohol has a polar and nonpolar region, like the lipids protecting the virus. So, alcohols and ethanols disrupt those supramolecular interactions to dissolve the lipid membranes. Choose high-quality sanitisers A conventional alcohol-based hand sanitiser stick can leave your hands feeling rough and dry because it strips off the protective layer of oils. So, make sure it contains some moisturising ingredients such as vitamin E and aloe vera. Some hand sanitisers contain ethanol, n-propanol, isopropanol, or a combination of these alcohols, but rest assured all are effective against the coronavirus and other lipid-wrapped viruses. You may also want to consider a hand sanitiser stick that is easy to refill with your choice of alcohol, in case it runs out. That way, you can keep it reusing for a long time and minimise waste.
