Throughout Penn State there are many wall distributors of hand sanitizer in order to decrease the amount of germs that are spreading from person to person. I know there are especially a few outside and inside the commons so that we can use them before and after eating. The presence of hand sanitizer is becoming more and more popular throughout all different 
schools, especially elementary schools. But, are they making any difference in the amount of germs that are spreading from person to person and how effective are they?
To be considered an effective germ killer, hand sanitizer must have certain qualities. First, it should include ethyl alcohol. According to UCSB Science Line, ethyl alcohol, “kills bacteria mainly through 2 mechanisms: protein denaturation and dissolving the lipid membrane”. But having this chemical isn’t enough. According to studies the product should have at least 60 percent
alcohol in order to kill most of the germs. Also, how you apply the hand sanitizer can make a big difference in the amount of germs that are killed. You should make sure that you keep every 
part of your hand, including the back and wrist. Also, you should take off all hand jewelry before applying it in order to insure that no spot lacked the sanitizer.
As stated about in order to kill bacteria and germs most efficiently, the product should have a minimum of 60% alcohol. The reason for this is because the higher the concentration of alcohol to more likely the hand sanitizer is to work equally well for all classes of germs. Also, some germs are able to develop resistance to the sanitizing agent, so a higher concentration of alcohol, decreases the likeliness of this. The higher alcohol content can also reduce the growth of germs rather than solely kill them. With all this in mind, it is important to make sure that the hand sanitizer contains moisturizers that will reduce the likeliness of skin irritation and dryness.
Many experiments have been done throughout the years to decide the effectiveness of using hand sanitizers, especially in schools. Scientist, Brain Hammond, and his collogues did an observational experiment to decided if there was a correlation between hand sanitizer use and 
elementary school absenteeism. To conduct the study, they observed 5 individual school districts, 16 individual schools, and more than 6000 students in Delaware, Ohio, Tennessee, and California. Overall this was a very reliable, large sample group, especially since the states were all at different regions. It minimizes the chance that there was a third variable involved with the conclusion. To do the experiment, each school in ach district was assigned a product or no product. The school with no product was the control group. Absenteeism due to infection was recorded and the reduction was concluded to be 19.8%. At the end of the experiment, they found that, “Elementary school absenteeism due to infection is significantly reduced when an alcohol gel hand sanitizer is used in the classroom as part of a hand hygiene program.”
Clearly, as shown by the observational study above, by applying hand sanitizer you are reducing the chance that you will get sick from bacteria. By watching the type of hand sanitizer you are purchasing, and applying it regularly, you are killing the germs and maybe even preventing further growth.
This topic has always been interesting to me. Throughout high school I never carried hand sanitizer with me, but once I got to college I now always have it in my backpack. I am not to sure why I made the switch, maybe it was because now I don’t know everyone here. I was always under the impression that it would keep me healthier, as bacteria would be killed off my skin when it is applied, and your article showed this to me once again. I always thought that hand sanitizers would be very effective when the hands are visibly dirty, but according to this article, that is not the case http://www.cdc.gov/handwashing/show-me-the-science-hand-sanitizer.html . It says that water is more effective in these cases. Just a heads up for your personal use of hand sanitizers in the future.
The idea that hand sanitizer may have BPA interested me into looking further into if hand sanitizer was actually benefiting the health of the students. While doing research i stumbled upon an article Skin Health and Hygiene Solutions. They reported that they are aware of the accusations of the researchers from the University of Missouri and the University of Toulouse about BPA. They claimed that the popular brand, Purell, doesn’t report any BPA in their product. They claimed that the “experiments were designed to dramatize a result.” They blamed the findings of BPA on the over-exaggerated use of the product and the use of thermal paper later on to dry the hands. Almost believing that the researchers experiment was falsified, I noticed that Skin Health and Hygiene Solutions is the company which produces Purell. This makes me believe that their accusations of a “dramatized result” were false just to protect their product.
This was an interesting blog. it caught my eye right away because we are now getting into the colder weather which means lots of sicknesses are going to be going around. People rely a lot on hand sanitizer to keep them from getting sick. I also am that kind of person but i recently found a study that claims hand sanitizer is bad for you. Researchers in the University of Missouri found that using hand sanitizer increases the absorption of BPA, a chemical that interferes with our hormones which can cause damage to the endocrine system. I was really surprised to read this because i had no idea what that chemical was at all. Although your blog states that a study was done with an elementary school and using hand sanitizer decreased infections within the students i believe it solved the problem for those children temporarily. BPA can risk diseases in adults and maybe those children when they grow older.
This article caught my eye because I feel like now, alot of people carry around sanitizers and even substitute it for washing their hands. I feel like many people debate whether sanitizers really kill the germs off your hands. Since at the end of the experiment they found that, “Elementary school absenteeism due to infection is significantly reduced when an alcohol gel hand sanitizer is used in the classroom as part of a hand hygiene program,” that Elementary schools will start to promote and display sanitizers throughout the schools in order to keep the children and staff healthy.
I do believe that the observational study performed had a good design and accurately concluded that hand sanitizer does, in fact, work the way it’s supposed to. But I am curious about the demographics of the elementary schools represented in the study. Were some of the elementary schools being observed located in low-income areas of the states focused on? Did each elementary school have a good representation of kids from different ethnic and health backgrounds? These things were not addressed in your post. Also, the sheer amount of the sample size used does not decrease the amount of third variables. Just because there were over 6,000 students included in the study does not mean that third variables were properly accounted for. An example of a third variable in this particular study would be the parents of the children within the elementary schools being observed. What if the parents of some of the students are particularly strict and required their child to attend school regardless of if they were sick during the study or not? These are third variables that, although they might have been accounted for in the actual study, were not mentioned in your post. Try to look deeper into the studies you use as evidence and don’t be afraid to ask more questions when analyzing a specific study! Otherwise, you did a good job on this post!
While I think your post could have benefitted from investigating a couple more studies, the study you did provide seemed like a good one! Like you said, it’s a big study, which is a good sign! The data also seems plausible. In class, Andrew has used the phrase “risk= exposure x hazard” a few times. This post reminded me of that concept. The exposure of getting sick at a school (full of germs) is pretty high. The hazard can be high, but not necessarily; it depends on what illnesses are spreading throughout the school. Therefore, the risk is decently high. The cost of running your hands under the hand sanitizer machine HAS LITTLE TO NO side effects though, so we should do it! It’s one extra step, that’s super easy to do! If I didn’t already use hand sanitizer, I would start after reading this post! Nice work.
This is definitely an interesting article and I have also noticed how prominent hand sanitizes have been in public communities. It almost seems as though sanitizers effectively remove bacteria which leads me to wonder if sanitizers are more practical than traditional soup and water completely. After doing some research, it seems as though the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) believes soap and water is the better way to go and sanitizers should be used as an alternative. According to the CDC, washing hands is the best way to reduce the number of microbes on your hands. http://www.cdc.gov/handwashing/show-me-the-science-hand-sanitizer.html The CDC even advises sanitizer to simply be used as an addition to washing your hands rather than a complete substitute. Definitely using sanitizers like you said in your post with 60% or higher alcohol content is advised but regardless hand washing should remain the largest form of cleaning your hands.