Posts tagged ‘surgery’ By Chad Upton | Editor If you haven’t
noticed, the popularity of hand sanitizer has exploded. It’s in
our desks, cars, purses and homes. I have seen dispensers at
subway stops, hospitals, airports and restaurants. We are
obviously obsessed with killing germs and fighting viruses. With
H1N1, Mad Cow, SARS and others, you can’t blame us for being
careful. It seems like hand sanitizer came out of nowhere, but
it’s not new, and neither is the principle. The first time I saw
hand sanitizer was in 1995. I worked at a restaurant and we were
told to use it hourly. At the time, it seemed like a magical
potion. I thought the concept was weird: I wasn’t washing
anything off my hands, I was rubbing it in. The truth is, hand
sanitizer is more effective at killing bacteria than soap and
water. That said, soap and water is far more effective at
removing visible dirt. For the most part, hand sanitizers use a
variety of alcohols as their active ingredient. To be effective
at reducing bacteria, they shou