Types of hand sanitizer

What is a hand sanitizer?

• It is  is a liquid, gel, or foam generally used to decrease infectious agents on the hands
• In other words,  Hand sanitizer also called hand antiseptic, handrub, or hand rub, agent applied to the hands for the purpose of removing common pathogens (disease-causing organisms)

Types of hand sanitizer

Depending on the active ingredient used, hand sanitizers can be classified as two types, such as:

1. 1. Alcohol-based: 
      • Alcohol-based products typically contain between 60 and 95 percent alcohol, usually in the form of ethanol, isopropanol, or n-propanol.
      • At those concentrations, alcohol immediately denatures proteins, effectively neutralizing certain types of microorganisms.
   2. Alcohol-free: 
      • They are generally based on disinfectants, such as benzalkonium chloride (BAC), or on antimicrobial agents, such as triclosan

• The activity of disinfectants and antimicrobial agents is both immediate and persistent

Effectiveness of hand sanitizer

• It depends on multiple factors, including the manner in which the product is applied (e.g., quantity used, duration of exposure, frequency of use) and 
• Whether the specific infectious agents present on the person’s hands are susceptible to the active ingredient in the product.
• In general, alcohol-based hand sanitizers, if rubbed thoroughly over finger and hand surfaces for a period of 30 seconds, followed by complete air-drying, can effectively reduce populations of bacteria, fungi, and some enveloped viruses (e.g., influenza A viruses)
• Similar effects have been reported for certain alcohol-free formulations, such as SAB (surfactant, allantoin, and BAC) hand sanitizer
• Most hand sanitizers, however, are relatively ineffective against bacterial spores, nonenveloped viruses (e.g., norovirus), and encysted parasites (e.g., Giardia)