Hand Sanitizer Alert

Hand sanitizers have been found to be effective in reducing gastrointestinal illnesses in households (Sandora et al., 2004), in curbing absentee rates in elementary schools (Hammond, Ali, Pendler, Dolan, Donovan, 2000), and in reducing illnesses in university dormitories (White et al., 2003). In the course of a classroom demonstration of the comparative efficacy of hospital-grade antimicrobial soap and alcohol-based sanitizers, a product with 40 percent ethanol as the active ingredient was purchased at a retail discount store. The alcohol content of less common brands was not always available online, however, and several Internet sites provide recipes for a bubble gum-scented children's hand sanitizer that contains 33 percent isopropanol as the sole active ingredient.