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Hand Washing Double Bonus
Dr. Alan Greene
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Hand washing does something cool that I bet most parents never think about. Most parents do know that hand washing before eating can greatly reduce the risk of bacterial and viral infections and is a cost-effective way to keep your family healthier. Hand washing can save your family tissue-strewn days dealing with runny noses or tummy-ache days dealing with with diarrhea. It can also help prevent pinworms, one of the most common parasitic infections in kids. But hand washing isn't just for reducing cooties and germs. It's an important step in protecting your child from toxic chemicals in the environment.
A recent study of chemical flame retardants known as PBDEs illuminated an important route of exposure in kids: dust to hand to mouth. PBDEs are known to disrupt hormones in people and other animals. These chemicals have been added to many household items - especially those made from petroleum products that would otherwise be very flammable. They are found in carpets, computers, and the foam in chairs, beds, and other furniture. The PBDEs are gradually released over time, where they end up in house dust.
The chemicals stick to their hands with dust or with direct contact. They get into their bodies when their hands come to their mouths when eating, especially with finger foods. Children average 10-fold higher estimated exposure than adults.
Clean hands before eating offers the invisible bonus of lowering exposure to PBDEs and other chemical pollutants. House dust and germs may be worse in the winter. Read more about arsenic and the importance of spring and summer hand washing.
Stapleton, HM, SM Kelley, JG Allen, MD McClean and TF Webster. Measurement of polybrominated diphenyl ethers on hand wipes: Estimating exposure from hand-to-mouth contact. Environmental Science and Technology. 2008; 42(9):3329-3334.
Last reviewed February 2009. As research is on-going, you may want to check several sources for the latest information.
Alan Greene, MD is Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at Stanford University School of Medicine, Attending Pediatrician at Packard Children's Hospital, and Senior Fellow at the University California San Francisco Center for the Health Professions. He is also founder of DrGreene.com and author of Feeding Baby Green: The Earth-Friendly Program for Healthy, Safe Nutrition
The opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and not necessarily those of Healthy Child Healthy World.
Posted by Kelly on 09/20/2009 at 07:50 AM
Love this info. I am addicted to any health info that applies to my family - does the fact that my kids use about 10 pumps of hand soap to wash their hands each time help even more? Thanks!
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Posted by Janelle Sorensen on 09/22/2009 at 11:25 AM
Kelly - more soap is not more protective. It’s the physical act that’s more important. Make sure they’re rubbing their hands for about 20 seconds (about as long as it takes to sing the ABCs) and really getting in between fingers, around nail beds, backs of hands, etc.
Glad you enjoyed the info. Thanks for submitting a question!