A recent study showed that bacteria associated with bulk soap used to wash hands in public restrooms can actually send you right back to the toilet.
Cases of diarrhea, pink eye and fever symptoms have been traced back to unsanitary conditions brought about by not maintaining soap dispensers, according to a study by GOJO Industries Inc., which invented Purell.
But the design of Ohio University’s more than 2,000 soap dispensers on its Athens campus prevents those risks.
The university spends about $50,000 annually in EZ Foam Kutol soap, a “hand hygiene manufacturer,” but the product comes in individually sealed 1,000 mL plastic bags that can be easily removed to clean and maintain.
“The university hasn’t used bulk soap dispensers in the 18 years that I’ve been here,” said Steve Mack, director of Facilities Management. “I personally don’t like them because of the potential for scum buildup.”
Bulk soap dispensers can create more problems than just an inconsistent stream. They can cause users’ hands to become dirtier because some places top off their liquid soap in the metal-hinged containers rather than cleaning out the mechanism, according to the study by GOJO Skin Health and Hygiene Solutions.
Fecal and coliform bacteria can exist in such places mostly because some facilities only refill and do not clean the actual dispenser. Dispenser nozzles are also rarely cleaned, according to the study.
Many health care facilities eliminated that type of bulk soap dispensers. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s guidelines advise not to “top off” soap dispensers in order to prevent bacterial contamination.
The university might have owned bulk soap dispensers in the past, but currently 99 percent of the campus replaced them with the current ones from Kutol, Mack said.
If any bulk soap dispensers still exist on campus, Mack said the university would probably replace them and, also, the soap currently purchased is considered “cheaper” than buying other types of soap.
“We use foam soap,” Mack said. “It gives better coverage.”
The university annually purchases 9 million mL of soap — or about 1,500 cases. Of those, 600 boxes supply the residence halls and 900 supply the academic buildings.
However, OU uses EZ Kutol soap dispensers that do not require cleaning the entire mechanism to replace the soap.
OU uses “standardized” soap — foamy and antibacterial. Officials previously considered using anti-microbial soap, but sometimes a chemical reagent in the soap prompts a reaction to sensitive hands.
Unlike most soaps, OU’s formula wasn’t created with “saponification” — a process in which soap is created from animal fat known as triglycerides. Hydrolysis then breaks the compound down with water.
“One can imagine a fanciful accidental discovery of saponification after some animal fat fell into an ashy wood fire,” said Kenneth Brown professor emeritus of chemistry and biochemistry in an email. “Somehow, one of the folks roasting their dinner discovered the usefulness of the stuff they had accidentally made.”
The university’s soap purchases are funded from the $750,000 basic custodial supply budget, which also includes paper towels, bathroom cleaners and mops.
“If (the soap) kills 99.9 percent of the bacteria, you’re still left with the 0.01 percent of bacteria that bacteria grows and produces,” said Peter Harrington, professor of forensic science. “The bacteria will grow stronger and more resistant in the soap.”
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