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Why Purell and other hand sanitizers can be dangerous

Purell hand sanitizerI keep a bottle of hand sanitizer in the glove compartment of my car because, I confess, I sometimes eat in my car when I’m in a hurry.

Yesterday, when I was conducting a teleseminar for people in The Publicity Hound Mentor Program, I learned that that’s not so smart.

Marilee Tolen, an expert in holistic health marketing, rattled off a list of reasons why hand sanitizers—specifically, the Purell brand—can be dangerous to your health:

—Purell contains isopropanol which is used to denature the ethanol in Purell, and isopropanol is poisonous.

—On Feb. 1 this year, The New England Journal of Medicine published information on the dangers of ingesting hand sanitizers.

—Purell kills all of the bacteria on the skin, even the good bacteria, which help fight the bad bacteria. Eliminating the bad bacteria means skin is more “naked” than it already is—with lowered protection and lowered immunity.

Air fresheners also can be hazardous to your health. Last week, one day after a group of environmental organizations asked the federal government to start assessing the risk of air fresheners, Walgreens pulled three of its products off store shelves.

I asked Marilee how she’s using both stories to her advantage.

–She’s blogging about them and mentioning that essential oils, which she sells, are good alternatives to hand sanitizers and air fresheners.

—She’s creating Google Alerts and posting comments at other blogs that discuss this.

—She’s writing articles for online article directories.

—Tomorrow’s issue of her ezine includes a lead story on the dangers of air fresheners.

When bad news breaks about a product or service that you compete with, are you jumping on every opportunity to offer yourself as the safe alternative?

Marilee is even hosting a series of teleseminars starting this week. They teach holistic health counselors, nurses, doctors, therapists, educators, healers, massage therapists, nutritionists, spa owners and health care business owners how to create a huge presence for themselves online.

by Joan Stewart on September 25, 2007

Filed Under: Public Relations Tagged With: crisis communications, Promotions

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. doug ray says

    April 28, 2009 at 2:15 pm

    Ethyl alcohol works as an antiseptic by coagulating protein, the primary material that makes up cells. Although alcohol cannot coagulate every single cell, it functions well to inhibit the growth and reproduction of many microorganisms, including bacteria, fungi, protozoa, and viruses. Ethyl alcohol is the primary ingredient in Purell, and DOES kill viruses.

    Reply
  2. dooug ray says

    April 28, 2009 at 2:16 pm

    Ethyl alcohol works as an antiseptic by coagulating protein, the primary material that makes up cells. Although alcohol cannot coagulate every single cell, it functions well to inhibit the growth and reproduction of many microorganisms, including bacteria, fungi, protozoa, and viruses. Purell DOES kill viruses, including the swine flu virus

    Reply
  3. Rachel Anders says

    April 30, 2009 at 8:35 pm

    Purell puts me into respiratory distress. For me, it’s a dangerous product that now seems to be everywhere.

    Reply
  4. Medicare says

    July 16, 2009 at 2:09 am

    don’t forget that you can always just wash your hands with regular soap and water. the alcohol in most hand sanitizers is poisonous, yes, but it’s only going on your skin, so unless you are allergic to it there should be no problem using it.

    Reply
  5. Diamonds says

    July 21, 2009 at 4:12 am

    Purell is a nasty sanitizer. I like using natural product like tea tree oil and others.

    Reply
  6. Diamonds says

    July 21, 2009 at 4:13 am

    Purell is a nasty sanitizer. I prefer all natural products like tea tea oil and others.

    Reply
  7. fff says

    October 12, 2009 at 2:57 pm

    ou could just buy rubbing alchohol its cheaper and does a better job, only use when you are not able to wash hands, germs have been around forever relax they are not going to kill you, weak minded people use purell

    Reply

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Publicity expert Joan Stewart, a PR mentor aka The Publicity Hound, works with small business owners who need free publicity, and with PR pros who tell their clients' stories to the world. She shows you how to establish your credibility, enhance your reputation, position yourself as an expert, and sell more products and services. To receive her free DIY publicity tips twice a week, subscribe here. See all the ways you can work with Joan. Or contact her and ask a burning question about PR, self-promotion or social media.

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