FATAL CONVENIENCES – HAND SANITIZERS
Darin Olien is best known as a SuperFood hunter, however he is also an environmentalist and health and wellness advocate. His career exploded recently thanks to co-hosting and producing the popular Netflix series “Down to Earth”, along with actor Zach Efron. Part travel show, part local food and part environmental awareness, the series is enlightening, funny and worth a watch. As a result of the shows popularity, his book “Superlife”, which he wrote almost 5 years ago, is now on the NY Times bestseller list, his very new podcast is already #1 in the health and wellness category and his Instagram account went from 30k to over 400k followers, almost overnight. The power of the “boob tube”!
He ends most weekly podcasts with a short segment about what he calls “Fatal Conveniences”. As he describes them, these are the things we do because they are easy and convenient and the world we live in makes us believe we have to. We are not even aware of their extreme dangers to our health as well as the damaging things they do to our world.
As a distraction from all the Covid stuff, I would like to post some of his fatal conveniences.
I’ll start with one which is tough to address in this day and age of Covid.
HAND SANITIZERS
The issue of hygiene and our obsession with cleanliness has permeated our culture for many years, long before Covid came on the scene. And it’s an unhealthy obsession. Every millimeter of our tissues, including even inside some of our organs, reside trillions of microbes which include bacteria, viruses, fungi as well as some other esoteric microbes. Under healthy conditions they all live in a happy, symbiotic way, thriving while protecting and nourishing us. The most well known of these areas is the gut microbiome where 70% of our immune system resides. As an aside, the best predictor of gut health is the amount and variety of plants you eat. Not animal products and certainly not probiotics which are now being shown to make things worse, but more on that another time. The mouth is full of millions of microbes (they are supposed to be there and it’s where proper digestion starts) and the skin is covered with them as well.
Although this is an important means to sanitize your hands in this day and age of Covid, make no mistake that these products contain toxic chemicals and also damage your health. They should NOT be a substitute for hand washing and should be considered an emergency measure if soap and a sink are not available. Remember that our first line of defence against pathogens is our skin which has a microbiome, just like your mouth, nose and gut. We are obsessed with everything ‘antimicrobial’ like mouthwashes and soap but in the process of sterilizing hands and making our breath minty-fresh, we are making ourselves vulnerable and unhealthy. These bugs are crucial to healthy skin. A 2017 study looking at 27 random cell phones identified an average of 17,000 bacterial gene copies on the phones. The point is not that phones can be gross, which they are, but that our skin and immune system are amazing at protecting us. Killing skin bacteria damages this defence mechanism. Drying it out from alcohol breaks down the barrier. Sanitizers may kill SARS Cov-2, but they also kill all the healthy bugs on your skin, just like oral antibiotics kill 30% of your healthy gut bacteria and mouthwashes kill the bacteria which start the digestive process in our mouths and protect our teeth.
A common chemical in many hand sanitizers is Triclosan (TCS). It’s also found in many soaps and shampoos. TCS is an antibiotic. A 2018 study showed that after 30 days of using a soap or sanitizer containing TCS, resistant bacteria start to develop on the skin. You don’t need it to kill coronavirus (remember it’s a virus not a bacterium) so try to avoid it.
Other chemicals in many sanitizers include hormone disruptors like phthalates, parabens and coloring agents. These chemicals DO get absorbed through your skin and into your body. Studies have shown significant impact of these topical chemicals on the internal immune and hormonal systems. Before you say that it is a tiny amount, it’s actually the tiny amounts which are exactly the problem. Large amounts saturate the hormone receptors, shutting things off but small amounts slowly, continuously disrupt endocrine function, which is much more dangerous in the long term.
Although alcohol is the most effective compound at killing most bugs, it also dries the skin leading to cracks and possible portals of entry into your body. A common alternative drug, benzalkonium chloride is no better. It is a biocide, preservative and surfactant (breaks down surface molecules making them less adherent to the skin). It is actually better to use an alcohol based sanitizer. It’s the least of all the evils.
If you can, use an organic, plant based, chemical free hand sanitizer which uses alcohol but only use it in an emergency.
REMEMBER: IF IT’S ON YOU, IT’S IN YOU.
Stay safe and be well.
AC
