Have you ever wondered about the dangers of hand sanitisers?
We live in a germaphobic society. You may be surprised to learn your hand sanitiser is not as safe as many advertisements suggest and is potentially weakening your immune system.
We live in a germaphobic society.
The idea of touching a shopping trolley or phone that another person has touched, shaking hands with a kid that has just wiped their nose with their hand and simply stepping into a hospital all create the urge in many people to run for the hand sanitiser.
The tingly gel hits your hands and almost as quickly evaporates as though it was never there. And along with it, all those horrible germs disappear too.
BUT …
What if I told you about the dangers of hand sanitisers? They are probably just as harmful to you as the bacteria you’re so worried about.
Wondering how? Here are a few reasons:
1) It kills ALL bacteria on your hands – the GOOD and the BAD
2) If used by children constantly, it can lower their immune system
3) It increases the amount of BPA (Bisphenol A) that you absorb into your body
Whilst the first two reasons probably come as no surprise, the third one is an interesting one to look at further. In case you hadn’t heard of it, BPA is a nasty chemical that affects your hormones and has been associated with health problems such as heart disease, cancer and infertility.
Already changed your water bottle or food containers to be BPA free? Unfortunately, BPA is still present in many things you touch in a normal day so simply using a hand sanitiser could be undoing all your good work. You see, every time you even touch a receipt or docket, you absorb BPA. If you’ve used a hand sanitiser beforehand, the amount is SIGNIFICANTLY higher.
So do yourself a favour and next time you reach for the hand sanitiser, take a deep breath, acknowledge that bacteria are not all bad and put the hand sanitiser back in your bag.
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