Microblog: Hand Sanitizers Can Damage the Gut
We have been told by the CDC to wash our hands to mitigate the spread of the Corona virus. Good advice. Washing hands for at least 20 seconds with quality soaps not only kills and stops viral infections, it helps remove the leftover viruses left on our hands when rinsing off. But when we don’t have access to soap, the recommendation to use hand sanitizer is questionable.
Why Hand Sanitizers Can Be Problematic
⚠️Hand sanitizers may kill surface level bacteria BUT if its locked away in mucus OR dirt or grease, then the hand sanitizer will not get to it.
❓How many of us cough or sneeze in our hands and then use hand sanitizer? Sorry, the mucus will make the sanitizer ineffective.
🦠If your hand sanitizer has Triclosan (disinfectant that kills 99% of microbes), bacteria and other microorganisms get resistant to it and then GET STRONGER against other antibiotics.
🚨This is what causes antibiotic resistance and superbugs. NEVER use sanitizers, personal care and toothpaste with Triclosan. It’s already the number one chemical in our water.
‼️Triclosan also can allow BPA (plastics, receipts) to be MORE absorbed through the skin. When BPA gets into our body, it adversely affects our hormones by working as a synthetic estrogen that our body cannot process (read: heart disease, weight gain, mental issues, infertility).
🧾While receipts have been found to be a major source of skin exposure to BPA, it is also found in other types of paper. In one study, concentrations of BPA were determined in 15 types of paper products—99% in receipts, 81% in other paper products.
💯And if you think it’s a little amount, studies show the absorption of BPA after use of hand sanitizers is 100X.
🛒 So think. We use sanitizers to wipe down our shopping carts and then touch cash receipts from the market. 100 TIMES MORE BPA absorption.
🚫We also see these sanitizer chemicals in our stomach and because sanitizers can kill some bacteria, it kills the bacteria in our gut. Every time you use sanitizer, you are killing your gut microbiome more and more.
❌In 2016, USDA finally banned many antibacterial soap additives for some of these very reasons.
To be contd