Tag Archives: Sanitizer

Automated hand sanitizer – Chicago, Illinois

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The newly married  Gonzalo Erdozain, one half of the Erdozain news pulling siblings and a pre-vet student at Kansas State, writes in a state of marital bliss:

As I walked down an aisle in Chicago’s Navy Pier, I couldn’t help but notice a nice little automated hand sanitizer dispenser in the middle of the wall, which just happened to be right in between both exits of the restrooms.

I didn’t actually used the bathroom, but this fancy machine answered a longstanding question – more of a concern actually – I’ve always had: Washing my hands is pretty much useless if the guy that exits the bathroom before me doesn’t and goes and touches the door’s knob or handle. So, by having this on the other side, I feel a little better about having clean hands.
 

The Tipton Slasher and alcohol sanitizers revisited in British prison

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William Perry, aka The Tipton Slasher, was the bare-knuckle heavyweight boxing champ of England in 1850 and 1856.

Apparently, I am related, through my father’s father’s family.

You can see it in the profile (left).

I figured this out during a grade 8 genealogy project in 1975.

Now that Al Gore has invented the Internet, I looked on-line, and there are lots of purported relatives of The Tipton Slasher.

But I have a collection of newspaper clippings outlining the alcohol-fueled antics – and downfall – of the Slasher, as well as a copy of the 1959 Pictorial History of Boxing, by Nat Fleicher and Sam Andre, passed through the family to me.

Hey, the Slasher’s even got his own wiki page.

“William Perry (21 March 1819 – 18 January 1881), known as the Tipton Slasher, was an English boxer of the bare-knuckle era.

“Born Tipton, Perry claimed the heavyweight boxing championship of England twice, in 1850 and in 1856. He was finally defeated by Tom Sayers in 1857.

“He died in Wolverhampton aged 62. A statue stands in the town of Tipton, yards away from the Fountain Inn public house, which was once his headquarters. The building received Grade II Listed Building Status in 1984 on recognition of its association with Perry, who regularly fought fellow boatmen on the many local canals in order to be first through the lockgates.”

Another site described great-great-great-great-great uncle Perry as possessing average physical skills but was “tricky, cool under pressure and used good judgment.”

Except when he bet everything he owned, including his bar, on a comeback title match for which he was woefully underprepared and lost everything, returning to work the canals and dying, penniless and drunk.

Cool statue though.

When they’re not bare-knuckle boxing in British prisons – I wonder which inmate has insisted on the nickname, The Tipton Slasher — they’re drinking alcohol-based sanitizers.

Peter McParlin of the Prison Officers Association says inmates were using hand sanitizer distributed to control H1N1 flu,  to make illicit alcohol.

The gel had been distributed around the prison to stop the spread of the swine flu virus. McParlin said on Thursday that giving inmates access to a gel with an alcohol content was unwise.

The Tipton Slasher would approve.
 

Handwashing and sanitation: try to make the message meaningful

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While Amy, Sorenne and I observed some sort of cross between The Hills and Real Housewives of Somewhere at a poolside party in Scottsdale, Arizona, some 2,300 Kansas State students were graduating this afternoon.

Hand sanitizers were apparently on the agenda as those who convocated were offered hand sanitizer before receiving their degree. The optional offering was apparently designed to ease flu fears. Seems reasonable enough, but do such offerings actually amplify rather than assuage concerns about swine flu, er, H1N1, or any other communicable disease?

If any of the thousands of family and friends who visited Kansas State today had wandered into the student union to use the washroom, they would have seen the sign pictured below. Megan discovered this about a week ago, and three of us read the sign and thought the disinfectant referred to some special kind of handwashing soap. Maybe we’re just handwashing geeks.

So Megan went on an investigative trek that finally led to AFFLAB Antimicrobial Lotion Soap. The company website does not list factual information about their soaps and the germ killing power it may have. In general, antimicrobial and antibacterial soaps do aid in the “eradication of germs” and washing hands properly helps as well. However, if no such soaps are available, non-antimicrobial or non-antibiotic soaps will also clean your hands. During handwashing, the act of rubbing hands vigorously together with soap, creating lather, then rinsing them, is what removes germs (or, for the science nerds, transient flora).

Then Amy looked over my shoulder and said, “the disinfectant is the stuff used to wash the bathroom floors.”

Oops.

I do not know the purpose of the signs, and what message the signs were intended to convey, but they failed. And as Megan said, “ugly, unattractive signs aren’t going to increase hand hygiene.”

iFSN: Hand sanitizer fact sheet

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iFSN: Hand sanitizer fact sheet

15.dec.07

International Food Safety Network

Andrew Stormer

foodsafety.ksu.edu


What are alcohol based hand sanitizers?
The term hand sanitizer encompasses many types of gels, wipes, foams or liquid solutions. These products typically contain ethanol, isopropanol or n-propanol in concentrations ranging from 40 to 95 per cent. The alcohol immediately destroys the bacteria and viruses that it contacts. Some sanitizers may also contain a moisturizer to help combat the dryness caused by the alcohol. Because of their ease of use and relative convenience, alcohol-based sanitizers have grown in popularity, and some people even use them as a substitute for hand washing.

How effective are hand sanitizers?
Research has shown that sanitizers are effective at killing and inactivating most bacteria and viruses. Alcohol-based sanitizers are recommended as a way to help prevent the spread of many common pathogens like tuberculosis and foodborne illnesses such as norovirus. These sanitizers are, however, not as efficient as hand washing in reducing numbers of bacterial spores, protozoan oocysts, and certain non-enveloped (non-lipophilic) viruses. Some of these viruses include HIV, Hepatitis A, and rhinovirus. It has been shown that sanitizers containing moisturizers may lead to the accumulation of more bacteria on your skin.
Past research has suggested that hand sanitizers don’t work as well on visually dirty hands.  However, recent research, such as that done by Don Schaffner from Rutgers University, has shown that sanitizers can still significantly reduce the number of bacteria even with debris on the hands.
There is currently no research that shows alcohol-based sanitizers contribute to the development of resistant bacteria.

Can hand sanitizers be used as a substitute for hand washing?
The differences between hand washing and using alcohol-based sanitizers are insignificant concerning pathogenic bacteria. However, hand washing is more effective in the removal of viruses, spores and fungi.  So no, hand sanitizers are not substitutes.  Hand washing is still the champion of clean hands and preventing the spread of infectious diseases.

Which soap you choose will also make a difference in how clean your hands become.  Recent studies have shown that soaps containing antibacterial agents do a better job at destroying colony forming units than plain soap.  However, there is evidence that the overuse of such agents may lead to resistant strains.

What should I look for in a sanitizer?
When shopping for a sanitizer you should look for one containing at least 60 per cent alcohol. A sanitizer with n-propanol is generally only found in Europe, and is slightly less effective against bacteria and viruses than both ethanol and isopropanol. Ethanol is more effective against viruses than isopropanol. Isopropanol is more effective against bacteria than ethanol because it is less volatile. Because he difference between their efficacies is not significant , either one will suffice when used in an adequate concentration.

Resources:

Colorado State University, SafeFood Rapid Response Network. (2004). SAFEFOOD NEWS. Vol 8 No. 3. Hand Hygiene Revisited: Another Look at Hand Sanitizers and Antibacterial Soap. Retrieved November 1, 2007, from  HYPERLINK "http://www.colostate.edu/orgs/safefood/NEWSLTR/v8n3s06.html" http://www.colostate.edu/orgs/safefood/NEWSLTR/v8n3s06.html

 HYPERLINK "http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/" Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. (2003). Hand Hygiene in Retail & Food Service Establishments. Retrieved November 1, 2007, from http://vm.cfsan.fda.gov/~comm/handhyg.html

Mayo Clinic. (2007). Hand washing: An easy way to prevent infection. Retrieved on November 1, 2007, from http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/hand-washing/HQ00407

Hand Hygiene Resource Center. (2002). Selecting the right alcohol-based hand rub for your health care facility. Retrieved November 1, 2007, from HYPERLINK "http://www.handhygiene.org/downloads/Selecting.pdf" http://www.handhygiene.org/downloads/Selecting.pdf

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2001). Bacteria Factsheet. Retrieved on November 13, 2007, from http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/a2z-b.html

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Facts About Noroviruses on Cruise Ships. Retrieved on November 13, 2007, from http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/vsp/pub/Norovirus/Norovirus.htm

Schaffner, D.W. and K.M. Schaffner.  2007. Management of risk of microbial cross contamination from uncooked frozen hamburgers by alcohol-based hand sanitizer.  Journal of Food Protection Volume 70 pp. 109-113. Retrieved on November 26, 2007, from
http://foodsci.rutgers.edu/schaffner/pdf%20files/Schaffner%20JFP%202007.pdf

Fischler, George E.; Fuls, Janice L.; Dail, Elizabeth W.; Duran, Melani H.; Rodgers, Nancy D.; Waggoner, Andrea L. 2007. Effects of Hand Wash Agents on Controlling the Transmission of Pathogenic Bacteria from Hands to Food. Journal of Food Protection Volume 70 pp. 2873-2877. Retrieved on December 5, 2007, from http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/iafp/jfp/2007/00000070/00000012/art00027

For more information on alcohol hand rubs or other food safety topics, please contact Doug Powell at 785-317-0560 or visit our website at foodsafety.ksu.edu
Although we strive to make the information on this fact sheet helpful and accurate, we make no representation or warranty, express or implied, regarding such information, and disclaim all liability of any kind whatsoever arising out of use of, or failure to use, such information or errors or omissions on this fact sheet.

© Copyright 2007 Douglas Powell

For couples who share toothbrushes

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I don’t.

But for those who do, Health Enterprises, Inc. is launching the UV Toothbrush Sanitizer
which uses ultraviolet light to kill 99% of the germs and bacteria that incubate on a toothbrush including E. coli, Salmonella and Streptococcus.

In case you missed the claim to fame, Brendan Leonard, senior director of sales and marketing at Health Enterprises said,

"We introduced the UV Toothbrush Sanitizer to help keep people healthy by killing 99% of the germs and bacteria that incubate on a toothbrush, including E. coli, Salmonella and Streptococcus. This is especially important during the fall and winter as this product can help kill the germs that make people sick."

The 99 per cent reduction claim is a nice marketing concept for those who forgot intro biology and the logarithmic growth of bacteria.

Kids should be allowed hand sanitizer

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"We have been wanting to put hand sanitizers in schools," said Lorri Pilkington, coordinator for health and nursing services for Leon County schools, "but we want to do it safely and with the blessings of all the agencies that are involved with the school system."

The "agencies of concern" are the Florida Department of Health, the Department of Education and the state Fire Marshal’s Office, who are afraid that the high alcohol content of the sanitizers may be a hazard for starting fires or poisoning the children.

Considering the horrible E. coli poisoning of the children Galena Elementary School last month, I’d prefer they let the teachers have had sanitizer. And just keep them away from open flames.