Pharmacist Says Frequent Use Of Alcohol-Based Sanitisers Not Harmful To The Skin

Olatunji Koolchap, an Independent Pharmaceutical Consultant has said the frequent use of alcohol-based hand sanitisers cannot damage the skin of the hand.

Koolchap revealed that there is no scientific evidence that has proven that the alcohol content in hand sanitisers can cause abrasion of the skin layer

He added that the main ingredient in hand sanitiser is alcohol with a minimum of 70 per cent concentration while other ingredients are only added to create flavour and to make it more amenable to the skin and not to erode the hand.

He also noted that if hand sanitiser was eroding the hand, it would not have been registered by the National Agency for Food Drug and Administration and Control as well as the Food and Drug Administration of the United States of America.

“The 70 per cent alcohol concentration in hand sanitiser can never have any negative effect on the hand.

“Alcohol is used in cleaning wounds. Iodine also has alcohol.

"It is not true that the regular use of hand sanitiser erodes the skin.

"Hand sanitiser has an antiseptic effect on germs on the surface of the hand and it kills those germs 99.9 per cent.

"So, I don’t believe the claim because it is not scientific.”

The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention has also disclosed that sanitisers with an alcohol concentration between 60–95 percent are more effective at killing germs than those with a lower alcohol concentration or non-alcohol-based hand sanitizers 16,20. 

“Cleaning hands at key times with soap and water or hand sanitiser that contains at least 60 per cent alcohol is one of the most important steps you can take to avoid getting sick and spreading germs to those around you.

“Hand sanitisers without 60-95 percent alcohol may not work equally well for many types of germs; and merely reduce the growth of germs rather than kill them outright,” CDC noted.