There are a few standards that everyone keeps on them in
their bag. Moisturizer, chapstick, and a bottle of hand sanitizer. Hand
sanitizer, with Purell being the eponymous brand name, is available in many
public buildings, and some people use it following every touch of a door
handle. Purell is a watery gel that is rubbed into one’s hands as a sanitizing
agent in lieu of available soap and water. There are different types of hand
sanitizer, but the active ingredient in Purell and many common brands is simply
ethanol, which universally
kills bacteria by dissolving their cell membrane and destroying proteins.
While hand sanitizer is known to be very effective at killing
bacteria, for some people it serves as more of a security blanket in response to
any and all skin contact.
The question is, does the availability of hand
sanitizer provide a false sense of sanitation?
