We know that the purpose of washing hands is to remove dirt, bacteria, and viruses from hands. After cleaning your hands with soap, you must rinse off the soap residue on your hands with water. However, there is a kind of antibacterial hand gel, you can “wash” your hands by just pouring a little on them and rubbing them, so you don’t have to rinse them with water.
What is the composition of antibacterial hand gel? Can antibacterial hand gel really wash our hands?
The common ingredients in antibacterial hand gel are alcohol, peracetic acid, and chlorhexidine. Alcohol is not only the main ingredient of many antibacterial hand gels but also the main ingredient of many wet tissues.
The primary function of alcohol is to kill bacteria, and its concentration is usually controlled at around 70%. Alcohol with a concentration of more than 80% is not suitable as a disinfectant, because the high concentration of alcohol will coagulate the protein of bacteria and form a protective film, which will prevent alcohol from further penetrating into the depths of bacterial cells, but will reduce the bactericidal effect. Because alcohol is easy to volatilize, there is no residue on your hands after use, so you don’t need to rinse with water.
What is the principle of antibacterial hand gel?
0.2% peracetic acid solution can also be a no-wash disinfectant for hands and skin. Peroxyacetic acid is a strong oxidant. After wiping hands with it, it will be decomposed into acetic acid and oxygen which are harmless to the human body within a few minutes. At this time, we can safely grasp food with our hands.
Patients should undergo skin disinfection before undergoing surgery or injection. At this time, a 0.5% alcohol solution of chlorhexidine is often used. Chlorhexidine is non-corrosive or bleaching, stable in crystallization and aqueous solution, and has low toxicity to the human body. It is usually used to disinfect body parts that do not touch food. Medical staff sometimes use chlorhexidine to disinfect their hands before operation.
Therefore, chemicals that can be used as antibacterial hand gel must be bactericidal, with little or no damage to the skin, no residue after use, or the residue is harmless to the human body.
