Dr Lanny
March 12, 2020
3/12/2002: The FDA has warned Purell to stop marketing their products suggesting they are effective against virus. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/28/health/purell-fda-ebola-virus.html
That does not mean that the alcohol in Purell will not kill virus, including coronavirus. The GOJO company, owner of Purell has not made the necessary FDA application supporting the effectiveness against any virus and therefore cannot market it for those uses. That does not mean that Purell’s alcohol would not work against the coronavirus, they just cannot label it as such under the FDA law.
However, alcohol is an effective hand sanitizer against bacteria and virus. The only problem is that there is no long lasting anti-microbial effect.
The following is quoted from: https://www.factcheck.org/2020/03/contrary-to-false-posts-sanitizer-helpful-against-coronavirus/
“There is sound scientific basis for the effectiveness of alcohol-based hand-sanitizers for inactivation of commonly transmitted bacteria and viruses, especially lipid-enveloped viruses like coronaviruses,” Benhur Lee, a professor of microbiology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, told us in an email. “Alcohol-based hand-sanitizers DO work against coronaviruses; this is what is universally recommended by hospital infection control to help prevent the spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by SARS0CoV-2. However, alcohol-based hand-sanitizers complement but do not replace proper hand-washing with soap and water.”
Lee also pointed us to a recent Smithsonian Magazine article, citing multiple sources and scientific papers, that discusses the effectiveness of hand sanitizers. That article, citing Lee, noted that “while soap physically dismantles the envelope using brute force, alcohol changes the envelope’s chemical properties, making it less stable and more permeable to the outside world.”
The article continued: “Alcohol also can penetrate deep into the pathogen’s interior, wreaking havoc on proteins throughout the virus. (Importantly, not all viruses come with outer envelopes. Those that don’t, like the viruses that cause HPV and polio, won’t be susceptible to soap, and to some extent alcohol, in the same way.)”
“Experts recommend working the sanitizer fully over both hands until completely dry.”
In addition, it is best to use a sanitizer that has a reagent that coats the skin and has a longer lasting effect. For instance, Zoono lasts for 24 hours on the human hands. www.zoonousa.com