Scented hand soap swap to Fragrance-free hand soap

Why make the swap

• Why switch to fragrance-free hand soap

  A plant-oil castile soap with no added scent, in the maker’s words. At a sink, CDC says washing with soap and water is the best option in most situations.

• What's the concern with scented hand soap

  US labels can list a whole scent formula as just “fragrance”, and FDA says some fragrance ingredients can cause allergic reactions for some people.

• General information, not medical advice. Ask your doctor, especially if you’re pregnant, nursing or have a health condition.

• Good to know before you buy

  At a sink, soap and water beat sanitizer. Keep a 60%+ alcohol sanitizer for when there’s no sink. Handled receipts? Shiny thermal paper carries loose BPA or BPS, and in a lab study, hand sanitizer on the skin made far more BPA soak in. Wash with soap and water instead, and skip the receipt when you can.

• Sources (4)

  1. CDC: soap and water remove norovirus, Cryptosporidium and C. diff better than sanitizer (opens in a new tab)
  2. FDA: fragrance ingredients can cause allergic reactions in some people (opens in a new tab)
  3. Hormann et al. 2014, PLoS One: hand sanitizer on the skin before holding thermal receipt paper greatly increased BPA uptake (opens in a new tab)
  4. Bernier & Vandenberg 2017, PLoS One: handling thermal paper; skin exposure to BPA and its alternatives, such as BPS (opens in a new tab)

  Health and safety facts on this page come from these sources. What a pick is made of comes from its maker's listing or website, as stated on the date we checked.