The explosive legacy of the hand sanitizer boom
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Re: The explosive legacy of the hand sanitizer boom
#2This hand sanitizer everywhere thing was just one of the many unproductive insanities of the Covid era.
Quick story: In 2021 I was shopping at an Office Max in Florida. At the counter, the checkout guy snuck two small bottles into my bag.
Me: Wait! I didn't buy that!
Him: Don't worry, it's free.
Me: Ok, but what is it?
Him: Hand sanitizer, we're giving them away.
Me: (Takes bottles out of bag, hands back to him)
Re: The explosive legacy of the hand sanitizer boom
#3Tl;dr: ArtNaturals made hand sanitizer with very high levels of benzene (a carcinogen) and after a fire and runoff into the Dominguez Channel, produced a bunch of hydrogen sulfide (the "rotten eggs" smelling gas). When the FDA reimposed pre-pandemic sanitizer rules, companies were forced to dispose of the crap they produced under the lax rules. Some tried to do so by giving it away to schools or illegally dumping it underground. Other sanitizer has sat around abandoned until it caught fire.
Re: The explosive legacy of the hand sanitizer boom
#4This hand sanitizer everywhere thing was just one of the many unproductive insanities of the Covid era. Quick story: In 2021 I was shopping at an Office Max in Florida. At the counter, the checkout guy snuck two small bottles into my bag. Me: Wait! I didn't buy that! Him: Don't worry, it's free. Me: Ok, but what is it? Him: Hand sanitizer, we're giving them away. Me: (Takes bottles out of bag, hands back to him)
Can you elaborate on why you believe it was unproductive insanity?
Re: The explosive legacy of the hand sanitizer boom
#5This hand sanitizer everywhere thing was just one of the many unproductive insanities of the Covid era. Quick story: In 2021 I was shopping at an Office Max in Florida. At the counter, the checkout guy snuck two small bottles into my bag. Me: Wait! I didn't buy that! Him: Don't worry, it's free. Me: Ok, but what is it? Him: Hand sanitizer, we're giving them away. Me: (Takes bottles out of bag, hands back to him)
what did he say / how did he react when you handed it back?
Re: The explosive legacy of the hand sanitizer boom
#6This hand sanitizer everywhere thing was just one of the many unproductive insanities of the Covid era. Quick story: In 2021 I was shopping at an Office Max in Florida. At the counter, the checkout guy snuck two small bottles into my bag. Me: Wait! I didn't buy that! Him: Don't worry, it's free. Me: Ok, but what is it? Him: Hand sanitizer, we're giving them away. Me: (Takes bottles out of bag, hands back to him)
Can you elaborate on why you believe it was unproductive insanity?
Because it was clear early on that covid was not droplet transmission and that hand santizer did jack shit. But nobody would acknowledge this for ages, leading to other crazy shit like shutdown playgrounds.
Re: The explosive legacy of the hand sanitizer boom
#7Just one aspect of the huge, tragicomic waste that resulted from the medical establishment's position that airborne transmission couldn't be real because it reminded everyone too much of miasma theory.
Re: The explosive legacy of the hand sanitizer boom
#8This hand sanitizer everywhere thing was just one of the many unproductive insanities of the Covid era. Quick story: In 2021 I was shopping at an Office Max in Florida. At the counter, the checkout guy snuck two small bottles into my bag. Me: Wait! I didn't buy that! Him: Don't worry, it's free. Me: Ok, but what is it? Him: Hand sanitizer, we're giving them away. Me: (Takes bottles out of bag, hands back to him)
I was thinking about all of the masks that were created super quickly and also dumped. Those masks do not look like they would recycle quickly.
Re: The explosive legacy of the hand sanitizer boom
#9This hand sanitizer everywhere thing was just one of the many unproductive insanities of the Covid era. Quick story: In 2021 I was shopping at an Office Max in Florida. At the counter, the checkout guy snuck two small bottles into my bag. Me: Wait! I didn't buy that! Him: Don't worry, it's free. Me: Ok, but what is it? Him: Hand sanitizer, we're giving them away. Me: (Takes bottles out of bag, hands back to him)
Can you elaborate on why you believe it was unproductive insanity?
With respect to covid, I remember it being said that washing your hands with soap was the most effective way to stop the virus spreading from physical contact. Yet the assumption that many people had was that alcohol based hand sanitizer was more effective. Sure, hand sanitizer is better than nothing, but old fashion soap and water was what the doctors recommended.
Thats my guess anyway.
Re: The explosive legacy of the hand sanitizer boom
#10I was very picky about the brands of hand santizer we used during the pandemic and I'm glad I did. I guess I can't know if my caution was sufficient or not.