What are hand sanitisers?

When we visit any play area/park, you will notice a few mothers who will pull out their hand sanitisers when their child is done playing. This is a practice to eliminate germs caught on their skin. The idea is to keep the child healthier. We all know the benefits of hand washing which reduces the harmful germ transfer. Most of the times, there is no access to hand washing or the toilet is not clean. In these cases, the use of hand sanitisers is of great benefit. These hand sanitisers are not a replacement to hand washing but a habit which is complimentary.  

Hand sanitisers can be classified as one of two types: alcohol-based or alcohol-free. Alcohol-based products typically contain between 60 and 95 percent alcohol. Hand sanitisers work by killing the microbial cells, the alcohol present is most effective in killing the germs.

How to use a hand sanitiser effectively, take a small amount (thumbnail size) on the palm of your hand and rub it over your entire hand, not to forget your nail beds. A simple check can be noticed, if the gel evaporates completely in under 15 seconds, enough of the sanitiser has not been used.

BENEFITS OF  HAND SANITISERS

• They are easy to use & apply, portable and very convenient
• Studies have proven that the risk of spreading stomach and respiratory infection is decreased among families who use hand sanitisers.
• Studies show that schools that have added hand sanitisers to classrooms can reduce students’ non-attendance due to illness by 20 percent. Children think it is fun to use them which is a bonus to their overall health quotient.

 LIMITATIONS OF  HAND SANITISERS

• Not all hand sanitizers are created equally, the ingredients differ. The alcohol content maybe in the form of ethyl alcohol, ethanol or isopropanol. All of those are acceptable forms of alcohol. However, be certain the alcohol concentration is between 60 and 95 percent.If the alcohol content of less than 60 percent isn’t enough to be effective.
• Hand sanitisers are not cleaning agents and are not meant as a replacement for soap and water, but as a complementary habit. 
• Alcohol can be very drying to the skin, so most brands of sanitisers also contain a moisturiser to minimise skin dryness and irritation.

Hand sanitisers were created for use after washing hands or for times when soap and water are not available. They are gels that contain alcohol to kill the germs that are transferred or on the skin. The alcohol works rapidly and effectively to kill bacteria and most harmful viruses.

TOP 4 TESTED LIQUID HAND-WASH IN INDIA

Hand hygiene is the single most effective way to prevent coronavirus and various infections. Human skin provides a favourable environment for the existence and multiplication of a variety of microbes. The hands/skin come in contact with harmful bacteria/ germs while using common public places, public transport, polluted/contained environments, etc. Several products are available for hand hygiene: bar soap, liquid soap, gels, hand sanitisers and foams. The conventional toilet soap washes away the germs but does not kill them. Also, the soap itself can get contaminated with germs. Today, several hand-wash soaps are/claim to be antibacterial and at Consumer Voice we proceeded to test precisely this attribute with regard to liquid hand washes. We conducted antibacterial activity, ‘zone of inhibition’ and bacterial kill efficacy tests in the lab to judge the effectiveness of 10 liquid hand-wash brands in removal/ killing of microbes/germs.

Some of these liquid hand washes contain triclosan (TCN) or triclocarban (TCC), which are potent chemicals with antibacterial action. Generally, the antibacterial material is essentially of an aqueous solution of potassium soaps, sodium soaps, or both, made from oils, fatty acids or their mixture; it may be a homogeneous, clear, translucent or opaque liquid with good lathering and cleaning properties. It may also contain permissible synthetic detergents. They quickly form a rich lather while using with the water. The hand-wash liquid/antibacterial liquid Comparative Test material also generally contains perfumes for their acceptability among users.

Liquid hand-wash products are commonly known to be antibacterial/anti-germs. Most of the brands have declared their variants as providing protection from germs/killing germs/removing germs – this is clearly understood as being effective in fighting germs. In addition to antibacterial chemicals like TCC/TCN, some herbal ingredients are also equally effective in removing germs, as verified in the course of our laboratory tests. All the 10 brands were found to be effective in removing/killing germs.

TOP PERFORMERS 

Soap-based

Hamam

Value For Money

Soap-based

Patanjali

PERFORMANCE TESTS

Antibacterial performance tests – specifically for antibacterial activity, ‘zone of inhibition’ and bacterial ‘rate of kill’ efficacy on contact – were carried out to judge the effectiveness of the liquid hand wash in removing bacteria.

• Antibacterial activity is determined by comparing the effectiveness of antibacterial chemicals present in a certain quantity of liquid hand wash with specified maximum inhibition concentration.

 KEY FINDINGS

• Based on the overall test findings, in the non-soap-based liquid hand-wash category Dettol is the top performer; in the soap-based category it is Hamam.
• The value-for-money brands are Bacter Shield in the non-soap-based category and Patanjali in the soap-based category.
• All the tested brands can be recommended as they are specifically formulated to remove germs from hands.
• All brands passed in the efficacy tests for antibacterial activity, zone of inhibition and contact kill.
• Foam height was high in soap-based hand wash as compared to the non-soap-based varieties.
• All brands passed in the efficacy tests for antibacterial activity, zone of inhibition and contact kill.
• Foam height was high in soap-based hand wash as compared to the non-soap-based varieties.
• Antibacterial/germicidal ingredient triclosan was found highest in Bacter Shield and Savlon but was well below the specified limit.
• Bacter Shield and Palmolive performed highest in sensory panel tests.
• Only one brand, Patanjali Herbal, claimed to be antibacterial and the tests confirmed it to be so. The rest of the brands did not claim to be antibacterial but were found effective in killing germs.

                                                                                           LET’S FIGHT CORONAVIRUS WITH BETTER HYGIENE

(This report was done in the recent past by Consumer VOICE. )