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On 14/03/2020 01:16, BillW wrote:<br>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:mailman.121.1584148609.23370.extropy-chat@lists.extropy.org"><br>
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<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:comic sans
ms,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#000000">Big article in
the NYT about how soap kills viruses, but when I search for
'soap does not kill germs' I find reputable sources that say
that it does not.</div>
<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:comic sans
ms,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#000000"><br>
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<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:comic sans
ms,sans-serif;font-size:small;color:#000000">Has anyone ever
researched this? Rafal</div>
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</blockquote>
<br>
I suspect the phrase "soap kills viruses" is about as meaningful as
the phrase "humans eat tubers". Some humans eat some tubers, some
tubers are never eaten by humans, some humans don't eat any tubers,
some eat lots of different ones, etc.<br>
<br>
It probably depends on which soap, and which virus.<br>
<br>
As soap is a salt of various fatty acids, it can disrupt viral coats
that are made of fatty membranes, but not all viruses have coats
like that, some are a protein shell instead. Many soaps these days
are not actually soap but detergents, which are chemically a
slightly different thing, and could have different effects.<br>
<br>
Coronaviruses do have a lipid envelope as far as I know, so soap
could be effective at breaking it down and killing the virus, but
the details matter. Probably a good idea to heed the advice to wash
your hands for 20 seconds, to give the soap molecules a chance.<br>
<br>
But washing your hands with soap and water does other useful things
besides (possibly) killing (some) viruses. Getting them clean of the
dirt which accumulates on them which can contain virus particles,
spores and bacteria, for instance.<br>
<br>
So soap doesn't have to kill viruses for washing to be a good idea<br>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
Ben Zaiboc</pre>
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