Feeling clean and smelling good wherever you go is always desirable, hence the trending fad of Hand Sanitizers, glorified by bath and body works and other high-end shops, you can now carry heavily fragrant ‘on the go’ hand sanitizers in your pocket, or in your purse..even hanging off your purse. As desirable as they are there is something you need to be aware of–hand sanitizers are bad, bad bad BAD for you!
One look on the back of the bottle should already flash warning signs. Words like : Ethyl alcohol and Amino-methyl propanol should catch your eye. A little research gave me the following information:
Ethyl Alcohol is known as pure grain alcohol, which is what kills the germs (AND dries out your hands). It is used in cosmetics to enhance absorption of other ingredients, thus meaning anything mixed with Ethyl alcohol can move through the skin and bloodstream much faster and with more ease. It is true that while most of the alcohol in hand sanitizers appear to evaporate in seconds, a small amount is absorbed through the skin and into the bloodstream. Research on adults using large amounts of sanitizers showed measurable amounts of alcohol in the bloodstream, but not enough to cause intoxication [1]. Yikes!
Amino-methly Propanol is another chemical that can easily be absorbed through the skin (thanks ethyl!) The EWG (environmental working group) gave it a toxicity rating of 3 and has been shown through research to be an irritant, and give off respiratory effects (among other side affects). But lastly we cannot forget Fragrance, I could go on and on about Fragrance (Fakegrance) as there is so much unregulated stuff that goes in, so many TOXIC chemicals. Daily application of hand sanitizer on top of all your other daily fragrant items (lotions, perfumes, candles, lip balm etc etc) accumulate in the body. This is loading up your body daily with toxic chemicals that EWG gives a toxicity rating of 8.
Scared yet? Your affair with hand sanitizer does NOT have to end! Prevention Magazine posted on their website an amazing DIY natural hand sanitizer, that will leave your skin feeling clean, soft, and smelling delicious! (no fakegrances here)
Here are the ingredients needed:
-3oz. filtered water
-1 tsp. aloe vera gel
-10 drops cinnamon essential oil
-10 drops clove essential oil
-10 drops rosemary essential oil
-10 drops eucalyptus essential oil
-20 drops lemon essential oil
How-To: Mix all ingredients in a 4-ounce spray dispenser (most of the time these can be found at your local drugstore/Walmart/Target in the travel/carry-on section) and shake gently. Spray onto hands (3 or 5 sprays) and massage into hands for 5-10 seconds.[2]
Skeptical? It will ease your mind to know you are in fact still killing all those germs. All of the essential oils listed above are antibacterial or antimicrobial and also, natural! So feel free to slather this on, and enjoy feeling clean and staying healthy!
sources:
http://www.virginiahopkinstestkits.com/hand_sanitizers.html [1]
http://www.prevention.com/health/healthy-living/natural-homemade-sanitizer [2]