Reply To: JCCC: Happy Birthday To Me…. Hand Sanitizers, Flu Shots, etc.
Had read through a couple of those sources already. BTW, one more positive theory about the germination stimulator is that because it causes the spore to germinate in an environment where it wasn’t intended to germinate, the organism isn’t prepared to grow there. (Clostridium Difficile, for example, expects to germinate in your gut, where there’s a lot of predigested food available.) So, it might well just die even without an antiseptic present. But we want to make sure we nuke it, of course, so all of the preparations I’ve seen which try to stimulate germination also have antibacterial compounds in them.
As for babies: yes, it’s theorized that keeping them in an environment which is too sterile might cause their immune systems to develop improperly. (Obviously, there’s a balancing act here.) Fortunately, none of us were born yesterday, so when formulating my sanitizer my main concern is what will keep an adult healthy. 😉