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The explosive legacy of the hand sanitizer boom

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Re: The explosive legacy of the hand sanitizer boom

#21

Post by floren »

dabluecaboose wrote: post #16
Footkerchief wrote: post #7

Just 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. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/ina.13070

Looking back, it was crazy how much emphasis was placed on surface transmission. I remember people talking about wiping down grocery boxes left in front of their door with hand sanitizer and leaving it to sit for 72 hours before bringing it inside.

Man, I live in the Bay Area, and my neighbors still do this shit.

Re: The explosive legacy of the hand sanitizer boom

#22

Post by sithadmin »

commandlinefan wrote: post #14
Mattasher wrote: post #2

This 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 worry about overuse of hand sanitizer creating antibiotic resistant "superbugs" as we've been told for decades... but I sure as hell can't go to a gas station or a grocery store without washing my hands with hand sanitizer any more. I feel like I can see the germs now.

I've never encountered a hand sanitizer with antibiotics in it. They're alcohol-based, and kill bacteria by destroying their cellular membrane and screwing up proteins inside organisms that absorb it. They're not going to cause antibiotic resistance.

Re: The explosive legacy of the hand sanitizer boom

#23

Post by micromacrofoot »

purpleflame1257 wrote: post #6
wewtyflakes wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

It wasn't clear for months, but yes it did carry on too long.

Re: The explosive legacy of the hand sanitizer boom

#24

Post by loeg »

Footkerchief wrote: post #7

Just 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. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/ina.13070

> the medical establishment's position that airborne transmission couldn't be real

I remember droplets being the leading theory but do not remember a time when the medical establishment was claiming airborne transmission couldn't be real.

Re: The explosive legacy of the hand sanitizer boom

#25

Post by danmaz74 »

Footkerchief wrote: post #7

Just 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. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/ina.13070

"Couldn't be real" is a complete misinterpretation of the paper. The "medical establishment" asserts that many diseases are transmitted by aerosol (ie very small droplets), but many more - and especially those similar to covid-19 - are transmitted by larger droplets, which travel less far. This isn't anything trivial as your comment makes it look like.

Re: The explosive legacy of the hand sanitizer boom

#26

Post by loeg »

bipop5000 wrote: post #8
Mattasher wrote: post #2

This 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.

The cloth ones? They'll break down relatively quickly in landfills.

Re: The explosive legacy of the hand sanitizer boom

#27

Post by danmaz74 »

dabluecaboose wrote: post #16
Footkerchief wrote: post #7

Just 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. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/ina.13070

Looking back, it was crazy how much emphasis was placed on surface transmission. I remember people talking about wiping down grocery boxes left in front of their door with hand sanitizer and leaving it to sit for 72 hours before bringing it inside.

Hindsight is 20/20

Re: The explosive legacy of the hand sanitizer boom

#28

Post by kgwgk »

globular-toast wrote: post #11

Interesting that everyone is talking in past tense in this thread. Where I live hand sanitiser is still everywhere and people still use it all the time. I don't recall ever seeing it outside of hospitals prior to the pandemic.

I miss it now. Cleaning your hands before eating is not a bad habit to have.

Re: The explosive legacy of the hand sanitizer boom

#29

Post by danmaz74 »

purpleflame1257 wrote: post #6
wewtyflakes wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

It was very clear from where?

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/science/science-br...

Re: The explosive legacy of the hand sanitizer boom

#30

Post by dabluecaboose »

commandlinefan wrote: post #14
Mattasher wrote: post #2

This 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 worry about overuse of hand sanitizer creating antibiotic resistant "superbugs" as we've been told for decades... but I sure as hell can't go to a gas station or a grocery store without washing my hands with hand sanitizer any more. I feel like I can see the germs now.

>I worry about overuse of hand sanitizer creating antibiotic resistant "superbugs" as we've been told for decades...

That's not a concern with hand sanitizer. Hand sanitizer is alcohol-based, not antibiotic based. Alcohol denatures proteins in germs, antibiotics are more biological (IIRC).

It's akin to building up an immunity to iocane vs building up an immunity to being shot

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