A Little Known Secret About Handwashing
If you’re like me, you grew up with your parents telling you to make the water as hot as you can stand it before washing your hands. Well, it turns out all that talk about hot water is hot air . Researchers have published studies that indicate the germ killing effects of soap have just as much of an impact with cold water as they do with hot water. And what’s more, using hot water each time you wash your hands wastes a lot of energy. Washing with hot water actually has a lot of negatives. For instance, using hot water each time hands are washed can irritate skin and cause your hands to dry out. When the skin becomes dry, it can become less useful as a protective barrier against bacteria. According to one researcher featured in this National Geographic article, people use hot water about 60% of the time when washing their hands. Because Americans wash their hands over 800 billion times a year, more than 6 million metric tons of CO2 are released into the atmosphere eac...