Covid-19 has forced a lot of lifestyle changes on us.
It’s becoming second nature to wear a mask, and we almost instinctively look for that sanitiser dispenser at the entrances of shops and offices. While we are doing the right things to reduce the pandemic and keep South Africa healthy, are we compromising ourselves by regularly using alcohol-based sanitisers?
“It feels like we went from one extreme to the other,” said Grant Momplé, director of Dermural Inc. and developer of a new non-alcoholic hand-sanitiser.
“It’s funny because from the start we knew washing your hands properly with soap is as potent as using more powerful sanitiser. But you can’t carry soap and water with you, and it’s impractical for businesses, so the world started relying heavily on alcohol-based sanitiser. But there’s a cost to that choice.”
New risks from alcohol-based sanitiser are still being discovered. On the most obvious end, it’s really bad to drink the sanitiser, which needs an alcohol level of 60 per cent or more to kill germs effectively. That’s stronger than most alcoholic beverages you can buy. Alcohol can also dry the skin layer and aggravate skin conditions such as eczema. It’s definitely not a good choice if your skin is already brittle or cracked.
Children are particularly vulnerable. They might try to taste the sanitiser by licking their hands, especially perfumed types. Children can also be attracted to the bright packaging of hand sanitiser, doubling the risk that they might try to taste the liquid.
But what are we to do? We need to keep our hands clean, we can’t carry soap and water with us and alcohol-based sanitiser seems to be the most effective form of keeping our hands clean. This is where Momplé and many others disagree.
“If you look at nature, there are many other remedies that can attack the bad microbes on your skin, but not harm the good ones. That’s something we don’t talk about often enough. Your body, including your skin, is home to microbe communities that are very good for you and help look after you. When we use alcohol-based sanitiser, we are killing the good guys along with the bad. Nature gives us alternatives, we don’t need to use alcohol-based products.”
Research in recent years has brought two such alternatives into the spotlight. Flavonoids are a common organic compound found in different plants and one of the reasons an occasional glass of red wine is good for you. Flavonoids are also, for example, found in onions and why onion juice is a pretty potent disinfectant. Likewise, citrus extracts such as lime juice are also great at killing harmful micro organisms. These natural alternatives attack certain micro organisms in more sophisticated ways than alcohol, promoting healthy skin while also keeping us safe from Covid-19 and other critters.
By combining and amplifying such natural properties, a new generation of alcohol-free sanitiser appears on the market. There are other non-alcoholic products, but many use other harmful chemicals such as Triclosan, which was banned from antibacterial liquid soaps in 2016 by US authorities. In contrast, natural compounds, such as flavonoids and citrus extracts, are not harmful and also have organic scents.
“It’s really amazing. Over the last 20 years we’ve learnt more about microbiomes in our bodies than we ever knew before. The same for flavonoids and other natural sanitisers, many of these things were poorly understood. It took some time to work out what they do, how they do it and if it’s safe for us. Now, we know what they are and nature has gifted us with alternatives to alcohol that are better for us and our environment. For example, Dermural hand sanitiser is not only made from 100 per cent organic ingredients, it is also full of antioxidants that boost and support your immune system.”
The popular view is that alcohol – and only alcohol or some devastating chemical such as Triclosan – can kill the dangerous organisms that make us ill. But this is no longer the case. Sanitisers such as Dermural confirm we can sanitise our hands without risking the side-effects of frequent exposure to harmful chemicals. As we fight back against Covid-19, it’s also a chance for us to be smarter about how we sanitise. It’s good to wear your mask and sanitise your hands, especially as the second wave of the disease starts popping up. But for the sake of your health and the well-being of your children, isn’t it time to use what nature provides?
