Stop Sanitizing! Why Hand Sanitizer is Dangerous

Hand sanitizer has been on the rise the last few years: showing up in bathrooms, schools, parks, airports, and more. While it’s great that we’re pushing for good hygiene and cleanliness, it is possible to take it too far.

It’s true that hand sanitizer will kill most of the bacteria on your hands – up to 99.9%. But it will not clean away any visible dirt or grime, and it kills both bad and good bacteria. (There’s such a thing as good bacteria?!) Experts still say that washing with soap and water (and rubbing your hands together for a good length of time – try singing the ABCs) is always the best option – especially if your hands are visibly dirty. Hand sanitizer should only be used if you cannot get to a sink. (So if you’re in a restaurant, don’t just whip out the little bottle of sanitizer. Make the short trip to the bathroom and do the job right).

It's always better to just wash your hands with soap and water.

Studies show that kids that grow up in less tidy environments end up with a lower risk of having allergies, illnesses, and asthma. Keeping your environment too clean (who knew there was such a thing?!), by using too many bacterial soaps and sanitizers, for example, can lead to your immune system becoming more sensitized to allergens and irritants. Dr. Richard Gallo of the University of California, San Diego says, “Being too clean can lead you to have a high allergic set point that will overreact to the environment.” If you over-wash your hands and continually strip them of all germs (by using hand sanitizer), then you will be hurting your immune system, which actually uses germs to build up its strength. You have to be exposed to germs in order to build up immunity to them.

Most hand sanitizers are alcohol-based and contain 60% alcohol or more. Most beer contains only 5% alcohol, and whiskey only 40%. If you were to ingest a small 2-ounce bottle of hand sanitizer, that would be equivalent to doing four shots of hard liquor. In fact, there have been cases of young children being sent to the emergency room for lethargy, slurred speech, and worrisome behavior due to an unknown cause. They then discover that their blood alcohol level is startlingly high and realize it’s because they licked their hands after having hand sanitizer put on (or they ingested some straight out of the bottle). So never apply a sweet-smelling hand sanitizer to your young child’s hands as it will just tempt them to give it a taste.

Never use a sweet-smelling sanitizer on a young child. They may be tempted to lick their hands or worse, drink it out of the bottle.

Alcohol-free hand sanitizers are hardly any better. Most of those contain an ingredient called Triclosan, which has been shown in animal studies to reduce muscle strength and disrupt the endocrine system. (At this time, it is unknown if these findings add up to human toxicity, but the FDA is currently reviewing the issue). Triclosan also breaks down rapidly when exposed to chlorinated water and produces toxic chemicals, including chloroform. Lastly, when bacteria are exposed to Triclosan, it elicits antibiotic resistance, meaning that over time, bacteria can develop a resistance to many types of antibiotics. And then hand sanitizer will no longer be effective.

The safety of an ingredient in alcohol-free sanitizers is dubious. Steer clear of it, just in case.

The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene recommends that hand sanitizers be kept out of reach of children, that children be supervised when using it, and that hand sanitizer should not be used on children under 2 years old.

So please, don’t routinely wipe your baby down with hand sanitizer. I myself know a handful of kids who were practically bathed in the stuff as infants, and today suffer from an absurd amount of allergies and are constantly in and out of the doctor’s office due to illness. It may seem like you are keeping your little one clean, but you may be doing more harm than good.

Sun Safety for Summer Fun

Let me quickly debunk some myths about the sun and sun safety. First, there is no such thing as a “safe” or base tan – even if you use a tanning bed. People who have used tanning beds are 74 percent more likely to develop melanoma than someone who has never used one. The only “safe” tan is the spray-on kind (and that is not going to protect you from the sun – there is no SPF built into a tan). Sunburns do not discriminate – people of all ethnicity can develop skin cancer, though the risk of melanoma is 10 percent higher for those with fair skin. The sun is not necessarily stronger when it is hotter; you can burn on a cool, cloudy day. You’re not safe in the winter either, since the sun reflects off of snow (and sand, water, ice, and concrete), which intensifies UV radiation. No sunscreen is completely “waterproof.” In fact, manufacturers can no longer describe their sunscreen as “waterproof,” “sweatproof,” or label it as a “sunblock.” Now, sunscreens labeled “water resistant” also have to indicate how long it will last – either 40 or 80 minutes. An SPF 30 does not provide twice the sun protection of an SPF 15. SPF 15 filters out about 93 percent of the sun’s rays, and an SPF 30 about 97 percent. Anything higher than an SPF 50 has not been found to be any more effective than an SPF 50.

Now, on to some scary facts. Malignant melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer, has risen in children and teens an average of 2 percent every year. Nearly 25 percent of a person’s lifetime sun damage occurs before they are 18 years old – although those are the years when our kids are still under our control! Just one blistering sunburn in childhood more than doubles the risk of melanoma later, and a person with fair skin can turn red in under 10 minutes without sun protection.

To keep your kids (and yourself!) sun-safe, start by avoiding the sun between the hours of 10 and 2, when it’s at its strongest. Use a sunscreen with as few chemicals as possible, such as a mineral sunscreen where the main ingredients are zinc oxide or titanium dioxide. Choose a broad-spectrum sunscreen, which means that it protects against both UVA and UVB rays. Use a lip product with SPF in it since the skin on the lips is thin and burns easily. Avoid using a spray sunscreen in the wind, and do not use it on the face. In fact, it’s better just to use a cream sunscreen, as you are more likely to apply enough to get sufficient coverage. Also, sunscreens do have an expiration date. Some of them are hard to find on the bottles, but a good rule of thumb is to get new sunscreen at the start of every summer.

If you or your kids are in water or on surfaces that may rub the sunscreen off (like inner tubes or slides), reapply every 40 or 80 minutes according to the bottle. But always reapply at least every 2 hours. If they’re old enough to, let your child help choose their sunscreen. You want them to put up as little resistance as possible when it comes time to apply (and reapply), and if they picked it out themselves, they’ll be more willing to have it slathered on. Even little ones, like 2 year olds, can help choose. Just make it easier for them and only give them two options to choose from.

Your diet can help protect you from the sun! Antioxidants and Omega-3s can protect you from skin cancer, and caffeine can repair damaged skin. So load up on fish, yogurt, fruits and vegetables, whole grains, beans, olive oil, red wine (just you! Not your kids!) and lots of water for the antioxidants and Omega-3s. Studies have shown that women who drink 6 or more cups of coffee daily are 30 percent less likely to develop squamous cell carcinoma or basal cell carcinoma, which are common but not normally lethal forms of skin cancer). Each 8-ounce cup o’ joe was associated with a 5 percent decrease in non-melanoma skin cancer risk.

Finally, follow the UV Index score daily to track the risk from the sun’s rays. The UV index is calculated based on the amount of ozone, the elevation, cloud coverage, latitude and time of year and indicates how strong the sun’s rays are (and therefore how fast you will burn!) Download the Environmental Protection Agency’s free app SunWise to use your zip code to see your area’s daily UV Index and UV forecast.

Note Feb 04 2016: This post was originally published online at Family Culture Magazine, but it seems to no longer be active. I previously had only a snippet here on my blog, but because the link to the full article was defunct, you can now read the whole thing right here at Prego to Legos!

Screen Your Sunscreens: Why mineral is the way to go

I never really gave much thought to what went into the food I ate and the products I used until I got pregnant. And now that Baby G has arrived, I am even more concerned about what I use on him. I have sensitive skin, plus I am very fair with light eyes so I often have reactions to products and burn very easily. I have even had a few second-degree burns from the sun, which means that I am high-risk for developing skin cancer. (Just one blistering burn in childhood more than doubles your risk of skin cancer later in life). I have not always been the most diligent about applying sunscreen (especially when I was a teenager), but I have gotten better. My husband has helped a lot in that regard - reminding me to apply it when we're heading outside for a while. I still haven't gotten to the point where I apply it every day, multiple times a day... but I would like to.

Even though my boy seemed to get my husband's olive skin, I vowed to prevent those second-degree burns I had and to use sunscreen diligently. But because I recently became interested in the ingredients of everything we use, I wasn't just going to slather him in Banana Boat without doing some research first.

A baby's skin is much thinner than adults. I've read different numbers on it - some say it is 5 times thinner than an adults and others say only 20-30% thinner. But either way, that means that their body absorbs more of what is put on their skin than yours does. Which is why so many people are concerned about the chemicals in baby products: lotions, soaps, diapers, even clothing. I haven't gone completely to the organic and green end of the spectrum, but I do try to make easy, healthy, and smart choices and substitutions as much as I can - always doing my research first.

We are taking a trip to visit family at the end of June, and will be going to the beach when we're in Florida. I know that means a lot of being outside, in the sun, and on the sand (which the sun reflects off of). Though I will do my best to keep baby boy in the shade as much as possible, I still wanted to find a sunscreen that was safe for him just in case. Many sunscreens are not recommended for children under 6 months old, and since he will only be 3 months old on our trip, I wanted to find one that was appropriate for a baby his age.

Goddess Garden's Toxicity Rating card