Most parents will recognise the struggle of teaching young children to wash their hands after playing or using the bathroom and the challenge of the pre-meal wash too.

With cleaning and sanitising now more important than ever, parents are feeling the pressure. Failing to add regular sanitising to your child’s hygiene routine poses a very real threat to their well-being. In most cases, if used properly and minimally, hand sanitisers don’t harm children. However, it is important to be aware of the ingredients inside these disinfectants and their possible side effects.

EFFECTS OF SANITISER AND TOXIC CLEANERS ON HEALTH

Studies show that the misuse and increased unsupervised availability of alcohol-based hand sanitisers may have adverse effects in children. The most common symptoms include skin irritation, dryness, cracking and peeling. Dry and cracked skin makes children more vulnerable to viral and bacterial infections, as abrasions disrupt the protective barrier provided by intact skin. Many children with previously diagnosed and controlled eczema are also experiencing flare-ups due to the overuse of harsh sanitisers.

Alcohol-based sanitisers can also be dangerous to your child’s eye health. Ever chopped a chilli and touched your eye? It’s easy for children to apply hand sanitiser and accidentally touch their eyes shortly afterwards causing chemical burns. Typically, this damage will heal completely, however, there may still be temporary blurry vision, pain and redness.

In public settings, alcohol-based sanitisers are often propelled via waist-high dispensers. Children, who are just about the height of these dispensers, are at a particular risk of ocular injury.

DO SANITISERS CAUSE MORE HARM THAN GOOD?

The quality and safety of sanitiSers needs to be considered more carefully. Many products are unaccredited.  Some are outright dangerous. Manufacturers have jumped on the disinfectant bandwagon, and a trip to the mall means being sprayed with countless different solutions in unmarked bottles.  In these public settings we have little control over the chemicals we breathe in or absorb through our skin.

Even before hand sanitiser became part of our daily lives, asthma was becoming more prevalent in our increasingly polluted world. Now that we are exposed to possibly harmful chemicals whenever we leave our houses, many individuals are experiencing an uptick in previously controlled asthma symptoms.

In order to conceal the strong and unpleasant odour of alcohol-based sanitisers, manufacturers add colours and fragrances to make the sanitiser liquid more attractive to consumers. Making a harsh chemical look and smell appealing introduces a very real risk of small children ingesting the sanitiser. Consumption of alcohol-based sanitisers may result in life-threatening hypoglycemia, apnoea and acidosis. Alcohol produced for human consumption typically contains 5% to 40% alcohol by volume (ABV). Alcohol-based hand sanitisers developed to kill COVID-19 contain 65% to 90% ABV!

Disinfectants used around the home and in educational settings may do more harm than good for our children. Consider the disinfectants used liberally to sanitise surfaces and toys in children’s classrooms and day care centres. Crawling children may absorb harsh chemicals from disinfectants used to clean floors. Toddlers may put freshly disinfected toys in their mouths or chew on their hands after touching surfaces cleaned with harsh chemicals. It is clear that it is important to make informed decisions about the sanitiser and disinfectant you choose for your family.

IT IS TIME FOR GOOD.

GOOD is a safe, effective sanitiSer designed for use in the home. This product eliminates harmful viruses, bacteria, spores and fungi.

GOOD is:

• SABS approved
• Non-toxic
• Eco-friendly
• Child safe
• Animal safe
• Food safe

Hypochlorous acid (HOCl), the incredible active ingredient in the GOOD product range, kills pathogens on contact. It is 99,9% effective against COVID-19.

GOOD is fully accredited by the SABS in South Africa as a food-safe surface disinfectant. The HOCl Solutions production facility in Centurion is internationally accredited with an ISO 9001 stamp of manufacturing approval. The production facility is also approved by SAHPRA.

GOOD FOR YOUR FAMILY. GOOD FOR THE PLANET. GOOD FOR YOU.