Many hand sanitizers work well, so the number of these are increasingly becoming more popular in hospitals, schools, day cares, and even on gangways of cruise ships. They work well when soap and water aren’t around, because it is a quick way of disinfecting hands. Have you ever looked on the back of the bottle? If you have read the it might say 62% ethyl alcohol (ethyl alcohol, isopropanol, ethanol, or some other variation all mean alcohol), or something like that. The problem is, is that if says anything under 60% then it isn’t killing the germs.

A study done by Scott Reynolds, revealed that if the alcohol content is below 60% then it isn’t killing the germs like it is supposed to, but instead it is just helping the germs move around the hand. In his study he doused one of his student’s hand in a hand sanitizer with less than 60% ethyl alcohol, and one with more than 60%, then he placed his hands on two different culture plates. Later, when they looked at the culture plate that hand the hand with the hand sanitizer with less than 60% alcohol, they found that it had an outline of his hand in bacteria.

Studies show that the computer keyboard, phone receiver, and desk have more micro-organisms than the bathroom. Your first choice when it comes to washing hands should be soap and water, but if for some reason you can’t get any, hand sanitizer is a good substitute. When using hand sanitizer, you should use enough to get your hands wet, and then you should rub them together until they are dry. But beware, if your hands are dry within 10 or 15 seconds, then you didn’t use enough.

I think that hand sanitizer is a great thing. I also had no idea that hand sanitizer is so popular. I didn’t know that a hand sanitizer with less than 60% alcohol didn’t kill the bacteria. I always thought that all sanitizers were the same.

This information could be useful to teens, because they may think that they are washing their hands well enough, with their 50% alcohol content hand sanitizer, but come to find out, all it is doing is moving around the germs. Also they should know that using it is no substitute for soap and water. Maybe by reading this article people will become more inclined to wash their hands.