Are Hand Sanitizers Helpful or Harmful?

Sanitzers May be Causing a Decrease in Hand-Washing Among Children

Jun 6, 2009

Both parents and schools used to have a common practice of teaching, and supervising, children in proper hand-washing techniques. Now hand sanitizers have taken over.

Hand sanitizers are everywhere! There is little doubt of their efficacy. Both homes and schools allow unsupervised use without batting an eye. Yet there is a problem in substituting them for hand-washing. Could this next generation suffer from not being taught hand-washing habits?

Safety Problems with Hand Sanitizers

According to Snopes, ingestion of hand sanitizer can result in alcohol poisoning. It doesn't take a lot since some can be over 60% alcohol (which is comparable to 120 proof)! In fairness to the companies that produce these items, they do usually contain a clear warning to "Keep out of the reach of children." Yet for some reason, the warning isn't always heeded. Perhaps fear of H1N1 or other flu has caused a bit of a premature rush to judgment in deciding proper use of these products.

Due to the strong scent, a number of children are over-stimulated, and keep reaching for more. There is some disagreement among medical professionals as to how much is too much. Nevertheless, there is an obvious and potential safety hazard.

The Need to Supervise Children in Using Hand Sanitizers

Allowing kids to use hand sanitizers without supervision exposes the children to the possibility of intoxication or alcohol poisoning. Some children use it excessively, rubbing it all over like lotion, inhaling it repeatedly, and some even lick it. Schools may want to update their practices upon the realization that many students have unfettered use of the substances. Parents of the toddlers or children seen as at-risk for these problems may want to consider alcohol-free products.

Is Hand Sanitizer Being Substituted for Hand-Washing?

In both homes and schools, children have far too easy availability to these products. Yet adults supervise alcohol with a careful eye. Perhaps this is a good time to read the warnings and realize that these contain significant amounts of alcohol. In addition to the dangers of ingestion, there is the danger of not being trained to wash hands regularly.

In flu outbreaks, the most often heard refrain from the medical community is the importance of hand-washing. Yet the current generation may not be receiving habit training and proper supervision in order to develop the layer of safety brought about by frequent hand-washing.

Hand-washing has often been taught both at school and at home. With the convenience of hand-sanitizers, there is a tendency to squirt the child's hands rather than go to the trouble of seeing that hands have been washed. Such an easy fix can lull both parents and teachers into much too frequent use at the expense of hand-washing routines before eating, after using the restroom, and other needed times.

Hand Sanitizers Do Have a Proper Place

This is not to say hand sanitizers are bad, as the effectiveness of the sanitizers regarding spread of contagions is widely accepted as many hospitals across the country use them regularly.

The unanswered question is whether it was really more effective than hand-washing, or if the hand-washing group in some studies were not closely enough instructed and supervised. That could have given an inaccurate view of hand-washing. In further studies, there may need to be a close watch kept on quality and frequency of hand-washing techniques.

It could be that society is a bit too relaxed, now that it is known that hand sanitizers work, people are not continuing to give appropriate attention to the vital need to teach children the value of careful hand-washing habits.

Although hand sanitizers do prevent spread of infections, they present significant safety problems which have been largely unaddressed both in homes and schools. There is a vital need to supervise use of hand sanitizers, and not substitute them completely for hand-washing techniques and habits. Hand sanitizers do have a proper place, but parents and teachers would be well-advised to be sure their beloved children are continuing good habits of hand-washing, and only using sanitizers when hand-washing is not available.

The copyright of the article Are Hand Sanitizers Helpful or Harmful? in Parenting Methods is owned by Hildra Tague. Permission to republish Are Hand Sanitizers Helpful or Harmful? in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.