The truth about hand sanitiser: Video reveals how long it REALLY takes to work (and it might be longer than you think)
- Footage has shown Purell brand hand sanitiser takes 30 seconds to kill bacteria
- Video from under a microscope shows germs dying from the cleaning product
- Comments were shocked to learn dead bacteria remains after being sanitised
- Health experts washing your hands with warm soapy water over hand sanitiser
- Here’s how to help people impacted by Covid-19
At a time when the use of hand sanitiser has soared due to COVID-19, a new video has provided an important warning about how we could be endangering ourselves by not waiting for it to take effect.
Footage posted on JusticeDodson4’s Tik Tok account shows how germs respond to Purell hand sanitiser brand under a microscope.
Purell, which claims to ‘kill 99.99 per cent of most illness causing germs’, was used as an example and the video could apply to all hand sanitisers.
In the video, the hand sanitiser is spread over film placed beneath the microscope, with a small bacteria worm crawling around on the surface.
A Tik Tok video has shown Purell brand hand sanitiser working to kill bacteria under a microscope
Eight seconds after the sanitiser is applied, the bacteria worm begins moving around erratically.
After 16 seconds, the bacteria worm starts to slow down, before fading at 25 seconds and dying after 30 seconds.
Comments on the video were shocked to see how that bacteria remained active for 30 seconds after the hand sanitiser was applied.
‘Damn how did I just assume the sanitiser dissolves them,’ another post reads. ‘Now I’ll think about bacteria corpse left in my hand after a sanitiser.’
The film of the hand sanitiser is seen sweeping across the frame towards a small orange bacteria worm (pictured bottom centre)
After 30 seconds of struggling, the bacteria worm is dead (pictured centre) at the hands of the cleaning product
The video was a reminder to users of hand sanitiser not to eat food or touch their face for at least 30 seconds while the product takes effect.
Health experts say the best way to wash your hands is with with warm, soapy water.
‘Handwashing with soap and water is the best thing to use to kill this virus,’ physician Dr Norman Swan told CHOICE.
The medical advice is to only use hand sanitiser when there is no access to soap and clean water.