We’re in the middle of developing an online marketing campaign for Clean-All Heavy Metals®Hand & Body Soap. While going over some updates for our instructions we started a dialogue about hygiene. It got us thinking, is there a right way and or a wrong way to wash your hands? Turns out, there is. You won’t be surprised to find out that most of the literature found on hand washing is in the medical profession.
The CDC has plenty of information on hand washing. One report in particular, The MMWR (Morbidity Mortality Weekly Report), dated Oct. 25th 2002 gives the historical perspective on hand washing. A simple observation in the 19th century comparing births conducted by a physicians and midwives lead to chlorides being used to disinfect hands. Apparently the infant mortality rate was significantly higher with physicians who did not wash their hands from one patient to another. In some cases their hands were not washed from a cadaver to a live birth.
Today, the modern world is aware of how important hygiene is. Yet many people aren’t washing their hands when it is necessary. It is important to wash your hands before and after a certain activity such as preparing or consuming food, or when treating a wound or person who is ill. However, most activities like using the restroom or blowing your nose require washing afterward.
I have to share some statistics with you I came upon while researching the art that is hand washing. Some I found surprising. Did you know that almost half of most men and nearly a quarter of women do not wash their hands after they use the restroom. I’m sure many of you out there are not surprised by this; otherwise eating nuts at your local watering hole wouldn’t be so taboo. Lefties end up washing their right hand more thoroughly than their left hand. The same is true for folks who are right-handed. So, I suggest a technique. According to the WHO (World Health Organization) by following eleven steps (it’s not as labor intensive as it looks) you can be sure to clean the entire surface area of your hands. They also recommend you wash your hands for at least 40-60 seconds before rinsing.
What the heck does this have to do with heavy metals? Well, we feel that if more people treated lead as if it were a germ or an infected area there would be less contamination. I know we sound like a broken record, but it’s important to make sure you are lead-free before eating, drinking, or smoking. We also, want to emphasize how important it is to not bring home lead or any heavy metal contaminates. Just like you wouldn’t want to bring home a flu or cold. Follow the WHO’s advice when washing with Clean-All, and definitely wash or scrub for at least 10-15 seconds and we always recommend this process be repeated.
By the way, did you know that millions of germs live under jewelry? “There could be as many germs under your ring as there are people in Europe”.
