Are Alcohol-Free Hand Sanitizers and Wet Wipes Effective Against Coronavirus?

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 (2019 Novel Coronavirus) global outbreak, the sales of hand sanitizers and wet wipes have skyrocketed. This is due to the fact that aside from inhaling coronavirus droplets through the air, you can also acquire the virus by touching contaminated surfaces then later on touching your mouth, nose or eyes. The best way to disinfect our hands from viruses is to wash them with soap and water. However, in situations where soap and water are not available (e.g. outside doing your groceries), one can simply use hand sanitizers and wet wipes.

There are two types of hand sanitizers and wet wipes: alcohol-based and alcohol-free. Most consumers patronize alcohol-free hand sanitizers and wet wipes because of the notion that alcohol is too drying to the skin. However, are alcohol-free variants equally effective as the alcohol-based ones against coronavirus?

CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) does not actually recommend alcohol-free hand disinfectants. Let me explain why.

Alcohol-free hand sanitizers and wet wipes use benzalkonium chloride as an active ingredient instead of alcohol. Benzalkonium chloride in an effective antibacterial agent but is less effective against certain viruses (e.g. coronavirus). It may only inhibit the spread of coronavirus (antiviral) but not actually inactivate them (virucidal).

On the other hand, alcohol-based hand sanitizers and wet wipes that contain at least 60% alcohol (either isopropyl or ethyl) are proven to be more effective at both preventing the growth of the viruses AND actually killing the viruses. In fact, there was a study published in 2017 in the Journal of Infectious Diseases which had proven that alcohol-based sanitizers can inactivate (kill) deadly viruses like Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (SARS-CoV) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV), which are both close relatives of SARS-CoV-2 – the virus causing COVID-19 disease.

Again, per CDC recommendation, hand sanitizers and wet wipes that contain at least 60% alcohol are still the most effective disinfectants to use against coronavirus as compared to alcohol-free variants. I think the only advantage of benzalkonium chloride-based hand sanitizers and wet wipes is that they are non-drying and less irritating to the skin than alcohol-based ones.

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