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Alcohol-based rubs won't remove anthrax from hands

Emergency Management Alert, March 19, 2003

Washing hands with waterless, alcohol-based rubs does not effectively remove the spores that carry anthrax, Reuters reports.

But scientists at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill said March 11 that washing contaminated hands with soap and water results in a 100-fold reduction in the presence of spores. The study in the March 12 Journal of the American Medical Association recommends that rescue vehicles carry water so emergency responders can adequately decontaminate their hands if they are exposed to anthrax.

The UNC team tested various hand-cleaning methods with adult volunteers whose hands were contaminated with spores of Bacillus atrophaeus, a harmless cousin of Bacillus anthracis, which causes anthrax. Three washing agents were tested: antimicrobial soap; a waterless rub containing 61% ethyl alcohol, and a towel treated with chlorine. Regular soap and water were used as a control.

The researchers evaluated hands for the presence of spores after wash times of 10, 30, and 60 seconds. Both regular and antimicrobial soap achieved a 100-fold reduction of spores on the hand at each wash time. The chlorine-treated towel was not quite as effective as soap and water after a 10-second wiping of the hands, but was as effective as soap and water after 60 seconds of use. The waterless rub had no effect on spore contaminated hands, the study found.

Researchers also urged health care providers not to rely on handwashing as a substitute for wearing gloves when dealing with potentially contaminated surfaces. Individuals should wash thoroughly with soap and water after removing gloves.

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