Dramatic improvements in sanitation and medicine continue to improve human health. Hand sanitizer is now a staple of this cleanliness regime, especially during flu season, but overuse may be leading us down the wrong path.

As this time of year is full of sneezes, sniffles and sicknesses, hand sanitizer is everywhere – in the dining and residence halls, classrooms and even our own pockets. While hand sanitizer is beneficial, overuse of anything is never a good thing.

Made to kill microorganisms, hand sanitizer aims to keep us healthy. These microorganisms are bacteria, fungi and other organisms that are often too small to see with the naked eye.

But when we kill as much as we can, we’re killing at a high rate that may have negative consequences for humankind and our environment.

There are good and bad microorganisms, all with an important role within our ecosystems, just as any other organism. Certain types can make us sick, while others benefit us explicitly.

Of the various microorganisms, there are many beneficial bacteria, such as the commonly called “gut flora” that live in our intestinal track and aid digestion. There are other bacteria that live on our skin that actually help maintain its health.

Other microorganisms even help us in food production, such as bacteria in yogurt and cheese, or yeast in bread.

When we use hand sanitizer too often, it can kill the microorganisms that will not harm us, along with the ones that will.

The overuse of hand sanitizer has also been linked to the creation of “super bugs,” which become resistant to sanitizers. Because these organisms have a short life cycle, resistant genes can be passed quickly through generations. Evolving quickly to survive, these organisms can become used to environments with hand sanitizer.

Hand sanitizer is not the only culprit in the creation of “super bugs.” A plethora of antibacterial products and pesticides also do this job. The key is to recognize there should be a balance. We need our health, but we also need other organisms’ health to live in a functioning world.

By killing everything we can, even if we cannot see these tiny creatures, we are disconnecting ourselves from the greater environment. Without our environment, and every piece of it interconnected and interdependent, we would not be here today.

Hand sanitizer and other products are important because they contribute to keeping us healthy. But just as you can eat too much food and become sick, using too much hand sanitizer has a bigger negative effect than we often realize. Overuse of anything will negatively affect us in the long run.

Sometimes common sense can play a heavy part in staying healthy. Keeping your hands clean does not always require hand sanitizer. Even with the recent progress in health fields, past generations have survived without it. Use hand sanitizer sparingly, when necessary, and help maintain a healthy, happy environment for us all.

Meg Callaghan is a junior environmental studies major and writing minor at SUNY-ESF. Her column appears weekly. She can be reached at mlcallag@syr.edu.

Published on February 20, 2013 at 1:50 am