In the global health war against the COVID-19 coronavirus, there are two measures we know of that effectively prevent the spread of the outbreak while the world waits on a vaccine: Quarantine/social isolation, and cleaning your hands. But what's the best — if not only surefire way — to get that right?
Washing them with soap and water.
Not hand sanitizer.
Not just water.
It's soap and water.
This might seem obvious, but it turns out there's a truly fascinating bit of science involved in the way viruses cling to our skin. Once you learn just how weaponized you are with water and a little bit of soap, there's no turning back. Also, it'll make you realize that panic-buying hand sanitizer is slightly absurd — when all you need is water (and a little bit of soap).
Palli Thordarson, a professor at the University of New South Wales School of Chemistry, took to Twitter on Sunday night for a 25-part thread about exactly what happens when water and soap hit your mitts.
In the first part of the thread, he explains why soap and water basically take out the bottom piece of a tower of Jenga blocks, or, in his words, a house of cards:
2/25 The soap dissolves the fat membrane and the virus falls apart like a house of cards and "dies", or rather, we should say it becomes inactive as viruses aren’t really alive. Viruses can be active outside the body for hours, even days.
— Palli Thordarson (@PalliThordarson) March 8, 2020
It gets really wonderful early on, when Thordarson basically illuminates why one of the most common things in the world — not hand sanitizer or any of the ostensibly fancier or more portable products available to us — are the key to fighting COVID-19:
4/25 Consequently, many antibacterial products are basically just an expensive version of soap in terms of how they act on viruses. Soap is the best but alcohol wipes are good when soap is not practical or handy (e.g. office receptions).
— Palli Thordarson (@PalliThordarson) March 8, 2020
The next few tweets go into the chemical breakdown of nanoparticals:
6/25 I point out to that while I am expert in supramolecular chemistry and the assembly of nanoparticles, I am not a virologists. The image with the first tweet is from an excellent post here which is dense with good virology info: https://t.co/73TurPhxOE
— Palli Thordarson (@PalliThordarson) March 8, 2020
8/25 The RNA is the viral genetic material -it is very similar to DNA. The proteins have several roles including breaking into the target cell, assist with virus replication and basically to be a key building block (like a brick in a house) in the whole virus structure.
— Palli Thordarson (@PalliThordarson) March 8, 2020
10/25 Instead the viral self-assembly is based on weak “non-covalent” interactions between the proteins, RNA and lipids. Together these act together like a Velcro so it is very hard to break up the self-assembled viral particle. Still, we can do it (e.g. with soap!).
— Palli Thordarson (@PalliThordarson) March 8, 2020
12/25 When a virus invades a cell, the RNA “hijacks” the cellular machinery like a computer virus (!) and forces the cell to start to makes a lot of fresh copies of its own RNA and the various proteins that make up the virus.
— Palli Thordarson (@PalliThordarson) March 8, 2020
14/25 All those new viruses eventually overwhelm the cell and it dies/explodes releasing viruses which then go on to infect more cells. In the lungs, some of these viruses end up in the airways and the mucous membranes surrounding these.
— Palli Thordarson (@PalliThordarson) March 8, 2020
And then there's that whole "sneezes can send particles flying from 30 feet away" thing, which, honestly, we might try to forget. But there it is:
16/25 These tiny droplets end on surfaces and often dry out quickly. But the viruses are still active! What happens next is all about supramolecular chemistry and how self-assembled nanoparticles (like the viruses) interact with their environment!
— Palli Thordarson (@PalliThordarson) March 8, 2020
Also, here's even more stuff you didn't know: The ways in which various surfaces do and don't carry the virus. Flat surfaces? Less to stick to for the virus. Rougher surfaces? Plenty to pull the virus apart on.
18/25 Contrast this with steel, porcelain and at least some plastics, e.g. teflon. The surface structure also matter – the flatter the surface the less the virus will “stick” to the surface. Rougher surfaces can actually pull the virus apart.
— Palli Thordarson (@PalliThordarson) March 8, 2020
20/25 In contrast steel, porcelain or teflon do not form a lot of hydrogen bond with the virus. So the virus is not strongly bound to these surfaces. The virus is quite stable on these surface whereas it doesn’t stay active for as long on say fabric or wood.
— Palli Thordarson (@PalliThordarson) March 8, 2020
And your skin? Your skin is COVID-19's favorite surface, basically:
22/25 The skin is an ideal surface for a virus! It is “organic” and the proteins and fatty acids in the dead cells on the surface interact with the virus through both hydrogen bonds and the “fat-like” hydrophilic interactions.
— Palli Thordarson (@PalliThordarson) March 8, 2020
24/25 And now the virus is dangerously close to the airways and the mucus type membranes in and around your mouth and eyes. So the virus can get in…and voila! You are infected (that is, unless your immune system kills the virus).
— Palli Thordarson (@PalliThordarson) March 8, 2020
26/39 Part 2 about soap, supramolecular chemistry and viruses. So how often do you touch your face? It turns out most people touch the face once every 2-5 minutes! Yeah, so you at high risk once the virus gets on your hands unless you can wash the active virus off.
— Palli Thordarson (@PalliThordarson) March 8, 2020
And here's where the hand-washing fun comes into play:
28/39 Soapy water is totally different. Soap contains fat-like substances knowns as amphiphiles, some structurally very similar to the lipids in the virus membrane. The soap molecules “compete” with the lipids in the virus membrane. pic.twitter.com/roMbcOnDr2
— Palli Thordarson (@PalliThordarson) March 8, 2020
30/39 The soap also outcompetes the interactions between the virus and the skin surface. Soon the viruses get detached and fall a part like a house of cards due to the combined action of the soap and water. The virus is gone!
— Palli Thordarson (@PalliThordarson) March 8, 2020
32/39 Alcohol based products, which pretty includes all “disinfectants” and “antibacterial” products contain a high-% alcohol solution, typically 60-80% ethanol, sometimes with a bit of isopropanol as well and then water + a bit of a soap. pic.twitter.com/V7cPyDxnq8
— Palli Thordarson (@PalliThordarson) March 8, 2020
Not that you need reminding, but please do not wash your hands with Tito's, or Jack Daniel's. It's a perfectly good waste of both:
34/39 However, you need a fairly high concentration (maybe +60%) of the alcohol to get a rapid dissolution of the virus. Vodka or whiskey (usually 40% ethanol), will not dissolve the virus as quickly. Overall alcohol is not quite as good as soap at this task. pic.twitter.com/7OKo2xI3Qr
— Palli Thordarson (@PalliThordarson) March 8, 2020
36/39 To sum up, viruses are almost like little grease-nanoparticles. They can stay active for many hours on surfaces and then get picked up by touch. They then get to our face and infect us because most of us touch the face quite frequently.
— Palli Thordarson (@PalliThordarson) March 8, 2020
And finally, the conclusion, et voila: Soap. And. Water.
38/39 Here you have it – supramolecular chemistry and nanoscience tell us not only a lot about how the virus self-assembled into a functional active menace, but also how we can beat viruses with something as simple as soap. pic.twitter.com/StYsSYAsSN
— Palli Thordarson (@PalliThordarson) March 8, 2020
Please feel free to anoint Prof. Palli Thordarson, a prize of a human, how you shall — long live, Prof. Soapy, Soapy King, Soapy Daddy, et al — but really, the best way to thank this guy for his service to the world is, pretty obviously, by washing your hands with soap and water, often, and well.
Share This Article
More on COVID-19: In the Coronavirus, Historians See Echoes of Past Pandemics