Choosing the right hand sanitiser
All of my friends and colleagues are breathing a sign of relief that the kids are slowly going back to school. Whilst there is considerable debate about masks amongst parents, some schools are insisting that kids bring hand sanitisers to use before eating. It’s a real shame as one of the best pieces of advice we have had is to just use soap and water. Soap disrupts the sticky bond between pathogens and your skin, allowing the pathogens to slide off. Soap molecules can pry themselves into the fatty layer of the C-19 virus and break it up.
However our continued obsession with germ killing is working against us in the long term. Our skin has it’s own microbiome and whilst many sanitisers contain largely alcohol, which is killing all of the good bugs on our skin, there are still a few around with contain triclosan - a chemical which may have longer term consequences on our health, in particular our hormones (1). You will also see alot of sanitisers with harsh foaming agents, irritating emulsifiers, synthetic fragrances and names which you cant pronounce. Your skin is the largest organ of your body - it’s like a giant mouth. This means, as a general rule, we should not be putting anything on our skin that we are not prepared to eat. I make soap an exception!
So then we rush to more natural remedies as they seem harmless enough. Many sanitisers contain lavender oil or tea tree as they act as good anti-microbials. However both of these contain chemicals that mimic or oppose the actions of sex hormones. They have been linked to early breast growth in girls - even under the age of 8, as well as the development of breasts in men (2.)
So what are our options?
An online chat amongst fellow Nutritional Therapists came up with this list. I don’t receive any commission for these, but wanted to share them with you:
Haoma Hand Sanitiser £16.
Bramley Hand Sanitiser £14.
Evolve Keep Calm and Spray on £12.
Cowshed Alcohol Hand Gel £9.
doTERRA On Guard Purifying Mist £8.67.
Shea Alchemy £6.50.
Fushi Stay Safe Herbal Hand Sanitiser £9. (note this contains Tea Tree)
Designs for Health Silvercillin Spray. £29.95.
Further Reading
Triclosan Exposure, Transformation, and Human Health Effects. Lisa M. Weatherly and Julie A. Gosse. 6 Sep 2018. PMID: 29182464. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6126357/
Lavender oil lined to early breast growth in girls. Janelle Weaver. Sep 2019. https://factor.niehs.nih.gov/2019/9/feature/3-feature-lavender/index.htm