Germ-free adolescents, toddlers, and adults?

The ubiquity of Purell troubles me. I am not a medical doctor, but indiscriminate use of disinfectants seems to create a potential for a race of super-microbes that would seem to me to outweigh any marginal benefit associated with the product. I wash my hands with soap and water at the appropriate intervals, but do not slather myself with antibacterial creams and ointments whenever I venture out. I understand that choosy moms and dads do not want their kids to get giardia, but unlike, say, car seats and bike helmets, the antibacterial craze seems like a market driven phenomenon with few demonstrable benefits. Fewer people, especially kids, die in car and bike accidents; to the best of my understanding, folks still get sick even if they lather up with Purell, etc. constantly. Like so many products, the success of these kinds of products seems to rest on the fundamental truth that Americans are scared even more than they are stupid.

Into this milieu comes PureCart Systems. (Via Grinder.) It is not enough to squirt the antibacterial on your hands when you clamber out of your minivan, and wipe down the cart with the helpful wipes provided for that purpose at most supermarkets. Now, consumer, you can have a freshly washed cart every time you shop. Lemony-fresh, even. It is not the first time, nor will be the last, but there is a particular frisson every time an idea presented as a funny in Achewood emerges in real life.

Update: An inquiry about water usage garnered this reply:

Our system requires very little water, because the solution goes on the cart in a fine mist.  Therefore, there is very little water needed, and very little residual water.  Our solution has been proven to kill 99%+ of germs and bacteria on the cart.

"Very little." I feel better already.

Oh, and X-Ray Specs, Germfree Adolescents.mp3

Comments

[Lisa]

So is that kid on the PureCart website supposed to be who you're protecting, or who you're protecting yourself *from*?

[Fesser]

Good question.

[Skeen]

oh, don't get me started on this one!
Hate, hate, hate the ubiquitous Purell. Plain old soap is fine.
What's also fine: not worrying so damn much about the invisible when we have enough visible things to worry about.

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