What's Wrong with Alcohol Hand Sanitizers?

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Bad germs are all around us. We pick them up and spread them when we touch things or even just breathe. Yet, we hear that we can be protected by washing our hands or applying alcohol hand sanitizers. Is that true?  Let's look at the facts and ask a few questions.

 

First, handwashing rinses away dirt along with some germs, and alcohol hand sanitizers chemically dissolve certain germs until it evaporates in 30 seconds. When dry, neither method works. In other words, there’s no germ-killing persistence after the first 30 seconds. All-day protection would require handwashing or applying alcohol sanitizer every minute; that's more than a thousand times a day. In comparison, imagine wearing a face mask for 30 seconds and expecting it to protect you for the rest of the day.  Nonsense?  Misleading?  Yes, yet that's what the makers of alcohol hand sanitizers allow you to believe about their products. In fact, earlier this year the FDA warned the largest maker of alcohol hand sanitizer about making misleading statements and claims. 

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"Why are we not warned that

alcohol expires within 30 seconds?"

 

 

Second, alcohol hand sanitizers have other serious problems. Specifically, they are made of up to 80% alcohol that is highly flammable, smells bad, dries the skin, stings on cuts, and does not kill enough harmful germs. More recently, the FDA warned about the recent rise of "fake" alcohol hand sanitizers containing methanol that can cause death if ingested or even absorbed through the skin. In 2020, the FDA removed nearly 200 brands from the market.

 

"Why would any alcohol sanitizer be recommended?"

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Third, alcohol hand sanitizers have become expensive, costing up to $50 per gallon or more. That's a lot to pay for a product that lasts less than 30 seconds, then evaporates leaving you with dry irritated skin, smelling bad, and unprotected against germs.  Storing alcohol hand sanitizers is also a problem.  The FDA warns that alcohol hand sanitizers are flammable and can self-ignite if left in an enclosure above 105 degrees, such as a closed car in the summer months. 

 

"Why would our government recommend

its use and then warn us about its use? "

 

 

And fourth - and the most serious - the FDA warns that alcohol hand sanitizers can be dangerous, even deadly if swallowed by a child.  In fact, the FDA reported that calls to Poison Control were up more than 75% in 2020, primarily to treat children under 6 years old. Furthermore, traces of alcohol can be absorbed through the skin into the bloodstream of both adults and children. If alcohol can cause poisoning, can it also contribute to early addiction or behavioral problems? 

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 "How are our children's

minds, bodies, and behavior

being affected by the forced use of

alcohol hand sanitizers in our schools?"

 

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Yet, there is an FDA-clear alternative. Alcohol-free SEAL-D is both safe for all family members and enhanced to protect them against germs all-day. SEAL-D  is water-based, so it's not flammable.  It is also non-toxic and odor-free.  It soothes and conditions the skin with repeated use and does not sting when put on cuts or scrapes.  It also kills many more kinds of harmful germs and does so all-day with just one application. In fact, it would take more than a thousand applications per day of alcohol hand sanitizer to come close to the persistence of SEAL-D. 

 

"How much would it cost to use

alcohol hand sanitizer

One thousand times each day?"

 

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SEAL-D cost less than10-cents per application!

At that cost, you can afford to use it on hands, arms, and

any other exposed skin surfaces, such as around the mouth and nose,

as well as on your whole face to kill bacteria from makeup and brushes,

and your underarms and feet to control bacteria-caused odor.

And don't forget the inside of your face masks, too.

Can't do this with alcohol hand sanitizers!

 

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There’s more. If you are a parent of a K-12 student, then you may know that 3 of the 4 most common reasons for absences are germ-related. In many schools, the average-daily-absence rate is 5%, the equivalent of nine school-days each year. Several years ago, a published study established that a QAC-based, non-alcohol hand sanitizer lowered illness-related absence by one-third, the equivalent of three school-days. A separate published survey of parents then found that when absences fell to less than 10 days per year, grades increased, moving 27% of the students from the C/D/F range to just 15% of students. That makes sense, less illness means greater attendance and higher grades.  

 

 "If handwashing and alcohol sanitizers are 

so highly recommended, then why are there 

so many germ-related absences?"

 

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Some parents and teachers already recognize the potential problems from the forced use of alcohol hand sanitizers in public schools. 

 

 

According to the President of a State-wide PTA 

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"We believe your product [SEAL-D] will have immediate and measurable benefits.

First, we believe it will substantially reduce or even eliminate the use of alcohol- 

based sanitizers in the schools along with known health risks to our children.  

Second, published studies conclude that an advanced non-alcohol sanitizer

will improve the health of our children by reducing germ-related absences,

thus increasing attendance and corresponding grades and scores. 

"We firmly believe that this safe effective product will have

a profound impact on our school children..."

 

 

 

If SEAL-D can help protect children from illness-causing germs, then can it help protect the elderly, particularly those that live in assisted-living communities? For decades one of the primary causes of germ-related deaths in these communities has been Clostridium difficile, a deadly bacterium that is easily picked up and spread by touch.  It's well-known that alcohol sanitizers cannot kill C.diff. and to date, there is no known cure once it infects the digestive tract. The CDC reports that in 2019 alone, C.diff infected more than 450,000 people and caused more than 29,000 deaths in this country. 

 

In contrast, SEAL-D was proven to reduce the C.diff bacteria more than 99.9999% (6.2 Log10) in the first 15seconds and then continued to kill for many hours afterward.  Could this level of effectiveness and persistence help to protect residents and staff from C.diff and other harmful germs such as E.coli, Salmonella, MRSA, and others?

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How does it work? Scientific studies at a major research university showed that the active-ingredient in SEAL-D  gently bonds to the surface of the skin like an invisible protective shield just 1-molecule deep.  Within seconds of applying, it electrostatically attracts bad germs, pierces their cell wall, and electrocutes the cell nucleus. That's the end of them, and dead germs cannot reproduce, mutate, or be spread!  Afterward, SEAL-D continues to bond with the skin cell to kill germs that are picked up throughout the day, even after a half-dozen handwashings with soap, all the while leaving the skin feeling soothed and conditioned, even from odor-causing bacteria. 

 

In contrast, alcohol sanitizers evaporate within 30 seconds leaving only the lingering odor of alcohol, and no protection from the germs that come along next. Worse, alcohol leaves the skin feeling dry from "defatting" or shrinking of the skin cells, thereby causing micro-cracks to open around the skin cells, resulting in extreme discomfort, redness, and even new openings for germs to enter.  Continued use of alcohol sanitizer further exasperates these effects - just ask any healthcare professional!

 

"So, we must ask the key question...

are alcohol hand sanitizers actually

causing more harm than good?"

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Now that we know

"What's Wrong with Alcohol",  

let's look at the extensive

"Independent Laboratory Test Results" 

for alcohol-free SEAL-D.