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In the time of COVID-19, there’s nothing more important than hand-washing, hand-sanitiser, social distancing and self-isolation to combat the spread of coronavirus. However, how do you know if the hand sanitiser you have at home even kills the virus?
Terri Vinson is a scientist, immunology graduate and a chemist, and she has some insights to help educate people on what makes an effective sanitizer, and the best ways to use them to protect yourself and your family from coronavirus.
Your hand sanitiser should:
- To be effective against COVID-19, hand sanitisers must be at least 60% alcohol.
- For optimum protection, 70% alcohol hospital grade sanitisers should be used to provide the best barrier from disease.
- Sanitisers with a 70% alcohol content interfere with the coating of the virus, preventing its ability to attack and penetrate living cells and infect the body.
What about your average supermarket/pharmacy sanitisers?
“Many sanitisers on the market use questionable ingredients which can be toxic if accidentally consumed into the blood stream, so do be careful to read the ingredients on labels,” says Terri. “Bacteria and viruses can survive on non-organic surfaces, and a recent report by The New England Journal of Medicine has stated that COVID-19 can be alive on plastic and steel surfaces for up to 72 hours. It’s important to make sure you are not only cleaning your hands, but sanitising anything else you may have touched while exposed to harmful microbes.”
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7 germy places in your home that need to be disinfected right now
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