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Repeated daily use of alcohol-based hand sanitizers

A threat to public safety

November 8, 2006

BOCA RATON, Fla. - A recent study entitled "Alcohol-Free Versus Alcohol-Based Instant Hand Sanitizers" indicated that repeated use of alcohol based hand sanitizers leads to an increase in germs and a potential for contamination.

The study compared an alcohol-free hand sanitizer, SafeHands^ｮ, with the market leader Purell^ｮ, which contains 62% alcohol. Independent human subject testing was performed in 1998 and again in 2006 at California State University, Fresno to measure germ killing, skin drying and flammability. Alcohol-free SafeHands proved superior in all three categories.

Independent industry expert Dr. Dave Dyer, PhD., who led the study, commented, "We discovered that the more often alcohol-based products are used throughout the day, the more harm is done to the skin." The study results showed that alcohol dries the skin and repeated use causes the cracking of the skin or fissures that become host areas for germs to colonize. The study also clearly demonstrated that alcohol-free SafeHands did not dry hands and had a more effective kill rate than the leading alcohol-based product, which, after 3-4 uses, began to lose effect. These findings could affect industries that rely on convenient alcohol-based instant hand sanitizers. Food and health service industry protocol require their workers to sanitize their hands as often as 20-30 times a day. The mere presence of alcohol can create a false sense of security in that there is no way to measure the compliance of workers who chose not to sanitize their hands because of the painful effects of alcohol they may have suffered. Hands of those workers who do follow protocol are likely compromised as the study indicates.

These findings are being released at a time when there is heightened public awareness of germs spread by hand-to-hand contact. Also, public fear of hospital-acquired infections (nosocomial infections) is borne out every day and substantiated in a recent CDC report that stated: "There are over 100,000 deaths per year due to nosocomial infections in which handwashing has been identified as a major contributing factor. In addition, the National Restaurant Association cites the lack of proper sanitizing as a major reason for the 72 million cases of food-borne illness in 2005. Dr. Dyer remarked, "Perhaps alcohol based products that are in use to combat germs are actually contributing to the problem?" This is the question that underlies the study.

Dr. Jay Reubens, founder and CEO of SafeHands, originally became interested in hand sanitizers because of his experience as an owner of a large dental group practice. He stated, "I saw a need for an alternative to the alcohol-based hand sanitizing products because many people have a sensitivity to alcohol. Also, there are consumers, such as mothers with small children who now have no choice but to use the available alcohol-based hand sanitizers throughout the day. In addition, the young and elderly with either underdeveloped or compromised immune systems need germ protection, but alcohol-based are often too irritating". Dr. Reubens concluded, "The spread of germs can be deadly with enormous financial costs. This liability alone should be compelling enough for industries and consumers to adopt "alcohol-free" as a new and necessary instant hand-sanitizing standard.

For more information about product availability and distributors in your area, contact SafeHands at 888-338-1338 or visit www.safehands4u.com.