National center for infection control professionals, healthcare experts, manufacturers, distributors, suppliers and consumers focused on best practices in hand hygiene and hand sanitizer products

Monday, January 21, 2008

Manufacturer Raises Their Hand-Nice Offer!


We just noticed that the US license for Soapopular brand has extended a free sample offer via the company's online website--nice idea! (Click on the image to the right-their store locator indicates Soapopular products are available at Target, Drug Fair, Xpect Discounts, and a variety of of supermarkets, including Stew Leonard's of Connecticut, A&P, Pathmark, Waldbaums and IGA independent grocers in New England.) When you go their website, they are also offering to send free sample cases to any school that requests them. Nice idea, especially when considering the many incidents of MRSA being reported!

We also noticed that a product called HandClens is on the shelf at select Costco locations--and the price for their club pak-$9.99 for [2] 8 oz bottles and [3] 1.7oz bottles is certainly cheap--but their product has a blue dye and comes with a fragrance..If you're shopping there, you'll look in the soap area, should be easy to find, the value pak bottles resembles Windex.. This product is also available on Amazon...you can read the reviews by clicking here

Friday, January 11, 2008

Maryland Votes: Correctional Facilities Extinguish Alcohol Hand Sanitizers

Schools say no to gojo, correctional facilities say no to gojo.
As the people from Soapopular would say: Be Popular and stay healthy--If you can't wash with soap and water--and depend on hand sanitizers--use an alcohol-free product (that doesn't contain triclosan..)

Atlanta: More News About Alcohol Poisoning from Hand Sanitizers

FOX News Atlanta--just click the link for the clip courtesy of YouTube

Kentucky Votes Against Alcohol Hand Sanitizers

Click on the link...just another state that is sounding the alarm

Sunday, January 6, 2008

Burts Bees- Hand Sanitizer: A natural elixir? Or Something Else?

If you don't have an online subscription to the NY Times--there was a full profile of Burt's Bees "Can Burt's Bees turn Clorox Green"-- and the issues they are encountering with the company's acquisition by Clorox.

Aside from the reporter spotlighting the trend and pervasiveness for marketers to try and position their products as 'green' or eco-friendly---it would seem that Burt's CEO John Replogle has caught the bug when it comes to hype.

During the interview by NYT's Louise Story, Replogle said: "If you can't put it into your mouth, you shouldn't put it on your skin.." needs to be taken with a big grain of salt (or a beer chaser) when considering Burt's Bees hand sanitizer product: Active Ingredient: ethyl alcohol 62%.

In 2006 the Association of Poison Control Centers reported 12,000 cases of child-related alcohol poisoning directly related to hand sanitizer products that contain alcohol. If Replogle is going to put this product into his mouth, he might want to have a beer chaser.

Think we're crazy? Click on this inspiring TV news clip

Tuesday, January 1, 2008

The 2007 Top 10 Germiest Places

Courtesy of Health.com..
The top places that your hands pick up germs :
1. Your kitchen sink

2. Airplane bathrooms

It’s not exactly a shock that there are a huge nund overused airplane loos (with only about one toilet for every 50 people) are the worst. “There are often traces of E. coli or fecal bacteria on the faucets and door handles, because it’s hard to wash your hands in those tiny sinks,” says Dr. Germ, a.k.a. Charles Gerba, PhD, a professor of environmental microbiology
3. A load of wet laundry

4. Public drinking fountains

Drinking fountains are bound to be germy, but school fountains are the biggest offenders, with anywhere from 62,000 to 2.7 million bacteria per square inch on the spigot, says Robert Donofrio, PhD, director of microbiology for NSF International. Other school hot spots: cafeteria trays, sink handles, desk-tops, and computer keyboards. Yes, kids are germy creatures. And, thanks to their slapdash hygiene, 22 million school days are lost each year to colds alone.

Reduce the risk: Send your child to school with plenty of her own beverages. Teach her to wash her hands, especially before and after lunch, going to the bathroom, or using the computer. Send hand sanitizer to every school teacher and give extras to your child.

5. Shopping cart handles

Saliva. Bacteria. Fecal matter. Those are just a few of the choice substances Gerba found on shopping cart handles. Carts rank high on the yuck scale because they’re handled by dozens of people every day and you’re “putting your broccoli where some kid’s butt was,” says the professor of environmental microbiology. And, of course, raw food carries nasty pathogens.

Reduce the risk: Many stores, aware of the ick factor, have a dispenser with disinfectant wipes near the carts. If yours doesn’t, bring your own and give the handle a quick swab; that’s been shown to kill nearly 100 percent of germs.

6. ATM buttons

If you’re not careful, you might pick up more than quick cash from your local ATM. Those buttons have more gunk on them than most public-bathroom doorknobs. (The same goes for vending-machine buttons, bus armrests, and escalator handrails. ATMs aren’t frequently cleaned, and they are regularly touched—a perfect combination for a lot of germs,” environmental microbologist Kelly Reynolds, PhD, says.
Reduce the risk: “Carry an alcohol-free hand-sanitizer with you and rub it on your hands after a visit to the ATM,” Reynolds suggests. Also, be sure to do it after you handle money. “Paper money actually carries quite a few germs, too,” she say

7. Your handbag

Your Marc Jacobs? Dirty? Yep. Think petri dish. When University of Arizona professor of environmental microbiology Charles Gerba, PhD, and his team tested women’s purses not long ago, they found that most had tens of thousands of bacteria on the bottom and a few were overrun with millions. Another study found bugs like pseudo-monas (which can cause eye infections), and skin-infection-causing staphylococcus bacteria, as well as salmonella and E. coli. Your makeup case is every bit as bad, as are your guy’s wallet and personal digital assistant.

8. Playgrounds

There’s just no way to put this delicately: Children tend to ooze bodily fluids and then spread them around. “When we sampled playgrounds, we were pretty aghast at what we found—blood, mucus, saliva, urine,” Kelly Reynolds, PhD, says. Pair those findings with the fact that children put their fingers in their mouths and noses more than the rest of us, and it’s easy to understand why Junior (and maybe his mom or dad) has the sniffles.

Reduce the risk: Carry wipes or hand-sanitizer in your purse, and clean everybody’s hands a couple of times during a park visit, especially before snacking. Pick warm sunny days for outdoor play: “The sun’s ultraviolet light is actually a very effective disinfectant. Most bugs won’t survive long on surfaces that are hot and dry,” says H

9. Your office phone

This is enough to make you dial 911: Office phones often have more than 25,000 germs per square inch, and your desk, computer keyboard, and mouse aren’t far behind. “Phones, including cell phones, can be pretty gross; they get coated with germs from your mouth and hands,” says Robert Donofrio, PhD., an expert in communicable diseases in Richmond, California.

10. Hotel-room remote

What’s the first thing you do when you settle in at a hotel? You grab the remote control and switch on the TV—you, and the hundreds of other guests who’ve stayed there. How dirty is it? Owen Hendley, MD, a professor of pediatrics and infectious disease at the University of Virginia School of Medicine, and his colleagues recently tested various surfaces for the cold virus after a group of sick people had stayed overnight. “We found the virus on the remote, door handles, light switches, pens, and faucet handles,” he says.

11. Mats and machines at health clubs

“I see a yoga mat, and I worry,” says Elizabeth Scott, PhD, who has found antibiotic-resistant staphylococcus on yoga mats and cardio and resistance machines. “At high schools, antibiotic-resistant-staph infections have been transmitted through wrestling mats. The same thing could happen at health clubs.”