Apr 08, 2020 07:00:00

Why is 'soap' more effective than alcohol disinfectant for new coronavirus measures?

'Hand washing with soap' is a countermeasure against the new coronavirus

recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO) . Alcohol disinfectants are also effective as a countermeasure, but a movie has been released that shows that washing your hands with soap for 20 seconds can surely kill the virus.

How soap kills the coronavirus-YouTube


The soap you use to wash your hands will work with any form of soap, including liquid and solid soaps.

Washing hands with soap can remove viruses such as the new coronavirus attached to hands.

You can understand why the virus can be dropped with soap by knowing the structure of the virus. Some viruses, including the new coronavirus, are covered by an oily membrane called an

envelope .

Viruses covered with oily membranes repel water, so washing with water alone does not remove the virus from your hands.

To remove the virus from your hands, you need to dissolve the membrane covering the virus in water. Soap is necessary to melt the film. For example, prepare oil, water, and soap.

If water and oil are put in the same bottle, water and oil will not mix and separate, no matter how much you mix.

However, put soap in water and oil ...

Mix well.

Then, a phenomenon called

emulsification occurs due to the action of soap, and the oil dissolves in water.

Emulsification is caused by molecules in the soap.

The light blue circles are hydrocolloids that are easy to adjust to water. The red rod-shaped part is called a hydrophobic colloid that is easy to adjust to oil.

When soap is placed in a container of water and oil, hydrocolloids will stab in water and hydrophobic colloids will stab in oil.

A large amount of hydrophobic colloid is stuck in the oil, so that the oil is entirely covered with hydrocolloid. Oil covered with hydrocolloids becomes more compatible with water and dissolves in water.

When the condition 'soap dissolves in water by soap' occurs in the membrane covering the virus ...

The membrane covering the virus dissolves in the water, and the virus inside falls apart.

Viruses that have fallen apart have no oil film and can be washed away with water. However, it takes a little time to destroy all the membranes covering the virus on the hand.

It takes about 20 seconds for the soap to destroy the virus's membrane.

As a test, apply an oily lotion that glows when exposed to UV light and wash it off with soap.

Apply lotion firmly over the entire hand.

Washing with water only ……

The lotion has not fallen at all and remains firmly from the fingertips to the wrist.

Try washing with soap for 5 seconds (left) or 10 seconds (right).

In both cases, the dirt on the fingertips appears to be slightly removed, but considerable dirt has caught in the wrinkles of the hands.

Wash your hands thoroughly for 20 seconds ...

The dirt that has entered the wrinkles has been removed.

It is obvious when you compare your hand before washing (left) and after washing with soap for 20 seconds (right).

In addition to soap, disinfecting hands with an alcohol disinfectant is said to be an effective measure against the new coronavirus.

This is because the alcohol contained in the disinfectant has a similar effect to soap, destroying the membrane covering the virus and killing the virus.

But it doesn't just mean that it

contains alcohol, and according to the American Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) , it's only effective for viruses if it's a disinfectant that contains at least 60% alcohol .

In addition, alcohol disinfectants destroy viruses as soon as their hands dry, so if the hands are wet or dirty, the effectiveness of the disinfectant will be reduced. Your hands must be dry and clean to get the best effect of the disinfectant.

In addition, disinfection with an alcohol disinfectant

is said to be less effective at removing viruses than soap, since there is no washing step with water. Washing hands with soap for 20 seconds is more effective than disinfectants, which can't remove dirt, because both hands and viruses are washed away with water.

It is difficult to measure exactly 20 seconds each time you wash your hands, but the

CDC recommends that singing the song 'Happy Birthday To You' twice will take about 20 seconds.