The latest in hand-washing technology

Yon Makino talks to EHM about why innovation matters even in a seemingly unassuming product like soap.

Is this the same popular retail Dial brand for soap products in the US?
Yon Makino. Yes it is. The Dial® brand has a strong heritage in trusted antibacterial protection, and launched the first antibacterial liquid hand soap in 1989. And Dial hand soap continues to be the number one doctor-recommended brand. Our Healthcare Division ensures that healthcare professionals benefit from the latest developments in soap and sanitizer technology. Healthcare's needs are very different from retail's. For example, a hospital worker may wash or sanitize 20, 30, or more times a day, necessitating products that are not only effective against pathogenic organisms, but also mild enough to protect their skin under such demanding conditions.

How complicated can soap technology be? Have there been any advances recently of note?
YM. Most people don't think of soap as a high-tech product. Certainly, all soaps with physical agitation can remove some germs. Adding an antimicrobial ingredient provides an additional measure of protection by killing germs on the skin that were not washed away. Our researchers found that while antimicrobial soaps were better than plain soaps in reducing germs, the germ-killing potential of the active ingredient was severely hindered by its tendency to bind to the surfactants. When this happens, much of the active ingredient isn't available to kill germs and just gets washed down the drain.

To counter this, we developed a new approach, called Activated Triclosan™ Technology, to free the active from binding to the surfactants, thus allowing the full germ-killing potential to be unleashed. The results were quite dramatic - achieving from a 100-fold to a 10,000-fold difference in germ kill vs. other soaps. And, by not requiring high levels of harsh surfactants to achieve a high germ kill, the formulation is extremely mild to the skin - as mild as water itself as demonstrated in our clinical testing. This technology can be found in our Dial Complete® Antimicrobial Foaming Hand Soap, which outperforms other healthcare soaps containing Triclosan, PCMX or even CHG. 

Can this new technology make a difference in a real-world healthcare setting?
YM. Absolutely. In an experiment, subjects' hands were contaminated, washed with one of two selected test soaps, and then allowed to handle cantaloupe balls to measure germ transfer from a washed hand on to food. Bacterial enumeration was then performed on the cantaloupe balls. The result? There was over a log₁₀ more bacteria recovered from the melon handled after washing with the ordinary soap than from the melon handled after washing with Dial Complete® Antimicrobial Foaming Hand Soap. Based on previously published dose/response studies, we determined the likelihood of infection from ingesting the contaminated cantaloupe. The data suggests that washing with Dial Complete can help reduce disease by 50 percent compared to washing with an ordinary soap.

How important is hand washing now that the focus is on hand sanitizing?
YM. Alcohol hand sanitizers certainly play an important role in any healthcare hand hygiene program. They offer convenience, germ kill and some skin conditioning. The danger is when healthcare workers mistakenly believe hand sanitizing replaces hand washing. Soils such as dirt, blood, urine, feces, hand sanitizer residue build-up, powders, and perspiration tend to build up on the hands. Since sanitizers neither penetrate nor remove these from the hands, germs can survive, and the healthcare worker using just hand sanitizer may unwittingly contribute to the spread of disease. That's why it's so important to continue to wash with soap and water throughout the day and not rely on hand sanitizers alone.

What type of healthcare facilities would benefit from using Dial Complete?
YM. Any facility that is interested in the latest soap technology to help prevent disease transmission could benefit from using Dial Complete® Antimicrobial Foaming Hand Soap. A number of respected healthcare facilities and systems are currently using this product, including MD Anderson Cancer Center in Texas, Intermountain Healthcare in Utah, Geisinger Health Systems in Pennsylvania, and Adventist Care Centers in Florida.

Reference

Fischler, G. E., J. L. Fuls, E. W. Dail, M. H. Duran, N. D. Rodgers, and A. L. Waggoner. 2007. Effect of hand wash agents on controlling the transmission of pathogenic bacteria from hands to food. Journal of Food Protection Vol. 70, 12: 2873-2877.

Yon Makino is Senior Brand Manager - Healthcare Division, Henkel Consumer Goods Inc. Prior to Henkel, he worked for Johnson & Johnson's Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Inc., the US Peace Corps, and the Microbiology Department at the University of Wyoming. He holds a BS in Biology, an MS in Bioengineering, and is an MBA graduate from Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management.