Have you ever wondered where or how Purell started? Well, the company who manufactures it was founded by Goldie and Jerry Lippman in 1946, during the war. It’s original purpose was to remove carbon from the hands of men who worked in the rubber plant. The women wanted to find a less damaging product for the men, because they were originally using benzene. At first, Purell was not how it is today. It was a waterless hand cleaner, made in the washing machine, called Gojo. After 19 years, Purell finally took off because of a big customer: “Wegmann’s” super market chain. Enough about the history of Purell…I want to get down to the nitty-gritty stuff. Being in college and all, there are germs everywhere. Therefore, I try to wash my hands or use sanitizer several times a day. However, I always wonder whether or not I am contracting more germs when I come in contact with a commutal Purell or soap dispenser.
Recently, Dr. Charles Gerba did a study on refillable soap dispensers. Until this study, the amount of bacteria that grows on “open, refillable, bulk soap dispensers” was thought to be much less.
From his study, he found that our of 541 soaps that he tested, 25% had unsafe levels of bacteria. (These dispensers can be mounted on walls, a bottle on the counter, etc.) About halfway through the article I was disgusted learning about coliform bacteria,
which is harmful and can be a disease causing organism. Gerba explains that the main “component of liquid soap is chlorosulfate.” Unfortunately, bacterias like this compound because it “keeps other bacterial forms out….[therefore, when coliform] contaminates soap, it thrives in it.” And because of this, when new soap is added to the dispenser, and it hasn’t been rinsed, the bacteria keeps growing. Gerba explains it like this: ‘”Every time you added more soap, the bacteria said, ‘Good, more food,’ and it apparently loved growing in there over time.”‘ I dont know about any of you, but I am definitely going to buy my own personal soap bottle to wash my hands with from now on. Luckily, lots of workplaces, like hospitals, have banned the use of
liquid dispensers. Since a Purell bottle is considered to be one of the “bottles on the counter” I think it’s safe to say you can also pick up germs when using these products too. Especially in public places, like the doctor’s office…I refuse to use them. The cap that everyone and their mother pushes down has tons of germs lingering around it.
Sometimes, I wonder if we are better off avoiding all of these special products. People have said before that handwashing doesn’t even clean your hands entirely…so what’s next? Some great proudct that everyone will start using, but we will eventually learn that it’s harmful. It seems like us human beings can never catch a break!
