FAQ about coronavirus: Do I need to purel my nostrils? Can Lysol disinfect the air?

Every week, we answer frequently asked questions about life during the coronavirus crisis. If you have any questions that you would like us to consider in future posts, please email us at: [email protected] The subject is “Weekly Coronavirus Questions”.

Whenever I get in a car, I use a hand sanitizer. Rub the disinfectant just inside the nose with the tip of your index finger and thumb. Does this have any beneficial or detrimental effects?

Wait, what? Well, it’s good for you to remember hand sanitizers for your hands. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention He says it’s always important to keep your hands clean to reduce infections, but especially now it helps prevent the spread of COVID-19.

But … says it’s not in your nose Lina Wen, A former emergency physician and professor of public health at George Washington University, who was a former Baltimore Health Commissioner. “Applying a hand sanitizer to the nostrils does not interfere with the inhalation of the virus.”

When a hand comes into contact with the virus, for example, when a person with COVID-19 touches a sneezing handle, “Hand sanitizers kill the virus from the hand and the virus invades the body when it touches the mucous membranes. You can prevent it in your nose, eyes, and mouth, “says Wen. “But putting a hand sanitizer on or in the nose does not prevent inhalation of viral particles that can adhere to the mucous membranes deep in the nose and throat.”

The best bet is all combinations of protective measures. Frequently wash or disinfect your hands, especially if you come in contact with items or surfaces that others may have touched, or if you are wearing a mask physically separated.

Some popular brands are hard to find because so many people use hand sanitizers. But don’t compromise on any brand. The Food and Drug Administration has discovered that some hand sanitizers contain dangerous ingredients such as methanol and wood alcohol. These ingredients are “toxic when absorbed or ingested through the skin and ingested.” Check out this FDA website Make sure the brand you have or plan to buy is on the list of hand sanitizers to avoid.

And as far as we’re talking about hand sanitizers, here are some review tips you may have forgotten since the beginning of the pandemic, courtesy of CDC And University of Pennsylvania:

I want to plan a birthday party for 13 people. We are all working on wearing masks and increasing social distance. Will it help to spray Lysol into the room every 30-60 minutes to help disinfect the air?

The only thing I didn’t wear a mask was to eat.

We hate being a literal party pumper, but in a nutshell, no, says Steve Bennett, senior vice president of science and regulatory issues. Household Goods Association, Lysol and other cleaning product industry associations.

“The disinfectant spray is actually designed for surface use, so spraying in the air is not effective in protecting indoor guests from COVID-19,” says Bennett. He adds that there are no sprayable household items currently registered with the Environmental Protection Agency that can be used to disinfect air. (And as reported in the previous FAQ: “Portable air purifiers can limit the spread of viruses Through long-range airborne particles by capturing most of those particles with a HEPA filter and purifying the air at a rate of up to 6 times per hour. “)

It’s good to think that the virus can be blown away, but the problem with spray disinfection is that it only lasts for a few seconds in the air and then falls to the ground or evaporates to end protection. Stated. James Marie, Professor of Civil Engineering and Environmental Engineering at the University of New Hampshire in Durham. Therefore, even if the disinfectant is sprayed on the air, if a contagious (symptom-free) person begins to talk or breathe in an indoor space, it is long enough to be effective in the next moment. Not really.

Like Bennett, Marie says the disinfectant spray is actually for cleaning surfaces such as kitchen countertops and doorknobs, but he prefers to disinfect wipes. Wipees allow you to “visually see what is wet and what is not,” ensuring that the entire surface is disinfected. Spray disinfectants make it difficult to disperse the product across the surface and can make it difficult to pinpoint where it has already been sprayed. If you choose to use a wipe, Malley has a hint. To make sure the surface is completely disinfected, wait for the surface to dry before touching it.

Watch this video by NPR correspondent Pien Huang to learn more about how COVID-19 spreads in the air and protects itself.

Fran Kritz is a Washington, DC-based health policy reporter Washington post And Kaiser Health News. Find her on Twitter: @fkritz..

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