How does soap kill COVID-19?
Hey. I'm Melissa.
Jam:I'm Jam.
Melissa:And I'm a chemist.
Jam:And I'm not.
Melissa:And welcome to chemistry free life.
Jam:The podcast helps you understand the chemistry of your everyday life.
Melissa:Okay. Jam, are you ready for a super relevant, super hot button topic Issue.
Jam:Dude, I'm ready for relevance.
Melissa:Okay. What we're gonna talk about today is COVID nineteen Uh-huh. Coronavirus. Mhmm. How does washing your hands kill the coronavirus disease?
Jam:Oh, dude. That's really good. I I feel like our stuff is always the point is for it to be relevant. Like, you always pick topics that aren't meant to be relevant, but this is as relevant as it gets for now.
Melissa:Oh, a 100%. So one thing came up on Twitter. My friend who ice skates with me Uh-huh. Was talking about how Hand sanitizers maybe aren't the best Uh-huh. For protecting yourself from viruses.
Melissa:And I saw her tweet that, and I thought, How does handwashing kill COVID nineteen coronavirus?
Jam:Uh-huh.
Melissa:2, What about hand sanitizer?
Jam:Right.
Melissa:Is it as good? Does it kill viruses? Yeah. What even is it?
Jam:I have I've been asking my wife about this a little bit because she's in medicine. And she told me some stuff, but it might not be true. I mean, I would my gut would be to say that it is. But, obviously, she has a lot bigger fish to fry than to study specifically hand washing. For her, it's just important to always wash her hands Constantly.
Jam:Right.
Melissa:So
Jam:it's like she's like, whatever way I can do it, I'm always gonna be doing that.
Melissa:Okay. Well, I'll tell you what I've learned, and then you can, you know, Take it back to her and see.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:See if it's right, if it aligns with what she knows. Do you remember
Jam:Mhmm.
Melissa:In our very first episode that we recorded.
Jam:Yes.
Melissa:We talked about how soap works.
Jam:Yes. I remember.
Melissa:Okay. I'm gonna give you a brief review.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:And then I'm gonna relate that to the topic at hand.
Jam:Perfect. Perfect.
Melissa:At hand get it? Hand washing? Okay. So soap, its structure matters a lot. Mhmm.
Melissa:It has a nonpolar side and a polar side. Do you remember that?
Jam:Yes.
Melissa:And polar is like magnets where It's partially positive on one side and partially negative on the other. Right. And the nonpolar things have the electrons equally shared, so there's no charge.
Jam:Right.
Melissa:K. So the way soap works, it is a has a long chain of nonpolar. Mhmm.
Jam:So
Melissa:it's not charged at all. Mhmm. And it has 1 end Mhmm. That is polar. Right.
Melissa:That's very polar. It has a functional group on the end. To just a group of atoms that are polar.
Jam:Right.
Melissa:And those are all connected together, and the part that's polar likes to interact with water Mhmm. Because water is also polar.
Jam:In general, polar likes polar and nonpolar likes nonpolar. Right?
Melissa:Right. Exactly.
Jam:K.
Melissa:And then the long nonpolar end likes to interact with grease and dirt
Jam:Mhmm.
Melissa:And nonpolar things like that.
Jam:Right.
Melissa:Okay. So the way soap works, remember, is it encircles the grease or dirt
Jam:Mhmm.
Melissa:All around with all the nonpolar parts facing that way and all the Polar parts facing out, and then the water washes it away. Mhmm. That's how soap works.
Jam:Right.
Melissa:That's a brief review. If you want a much more in-depth review of all the things I just said, You'll listen to our 1st episode. I think most people have that's the most listened to episode that we have. Yeah. So I think most people will listen to that.
Jam:Yeah. It's definitely interesting, And it allows us to if it just goes to that, we can talk more about, I guess, the specific situation as it is now. Right.
Melissa:And in that episode, I said I was talking, like, dish soap Uh-huh. Soap that was not antibacterial, anything like that.
Jam:Right. What a simpler time that was.
Melissa:Well, we're still talking about soap that's not antibacterial. Uh-huh. But we're talking about how it specifically interacts with this type of virus. Uh-huh. Okay.
Melissa:So let's zoom in to this type of virus.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:Viruses are Basically, a good way you can think of it as a as a complex of some kind of it's called nucleic acid Mhmm. DNA, RNA, 1 or the other, and proteins. Mhmm. And sometimes, but not always, they're coated with a membrane.
Jam:Mhmm.
Melissa:So when they're surrounded by a membrane
Jam:Uh-huh.
Melissa:That membrane is usually made up of lipids.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:It can be a lipid bilayer where it's almost like the structure of soap where there's An outside part that's not polar and an inside part that is polar. You know, it can have different stuff. Viruses are not my expertise. Mhmm. But they can have a lipid or fatty envelope holding the virus together.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:Okay. So that's viruses as a whole.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:Our our guy, COVID nineteen
Jam:Mhmm.
Melissa:Coronavirus. It's known as a coronavirus. Those are classes. It's a class of viruses with these, structures sticking out That look almost like a crown. That's why it's called coronavirus.
Jam:Oh, interesting.
Melissa:They they poke out.
Jam:Uh-huh.
Melissa:Actually, one of our listeners Emailed us, and they used the emoji with a crown. It was s t, I believe. She used the emoji with the crown and then the virus Emoji.
Jam:Oh, wow. I thought
Melissa:it was hysterical. Interesting. Even know we're gonna talk about this today.
Jam:What what's the virus emoji?
Melissa:It's like a green. It looks like a virus. I mean I
Jam:don't think I never noticed that. It's crazy.
Melissa:I'll show it to you. Hang on.
Jam:Oh, interesting.
Melissa:Yeah. Isn't that cool?
Jam:Yeah. I have no idea.
Melissa:I know, and I loved how she put those together. It might not be a virus for sure, but it definitely looks virus y to me.
Jam:Right. Right.
Melissa:And next to the crown and that little thing, I know exactly what she meant. I thought it was so cute. So with coronavirus, it does have that that lip Lipid envelope on it. And the way it works with soap is that tail end of soap that's nonpolar Uh-huh. When it's trying to avoid the water, when you're washing your hands
Jam:Right.
Melissa:Will be forced down into the lipid layer of the envelope Uh-huh. And effectively wrench open the lipid membrane around the coronavirus
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:And spill out all the things inside of it that make up a virus rendering it basically useless.
Jam:Oh my gosh. That's so violent.
Melissa:I know.
Jam:And kinda incredible.
Melissa:I know.
Jam:So the I'm already kinda forgetting. Sorry. But the the membrane around it, the lipid membrane is nonpolar. Nonpolar. Because that's why it wouldn't just that's why just regular water wouldn't work.
Melissa:Right.
Jam:So it's nonpolar. Having the nonpolar chain Mhmm. As part of soap
Melissa:Mhmm.
Jam:Allows it to interact with that Yes. Membrane.
Melissa:It forces it. It, like, breaks its way in.
Jam:Gosh. Wow.
Melissa:So imagine a barrier, like an like a barrier that's keeping something together. Uh-huh. Think about Having water in a plastic bag.
Jam:Okay. Like a water balloon?
Melissa:Yeah. Like a water balloon. And You've got a bunch of dull objects that would be just regular water bouncing off of it, and then something sharp that's able to penetrate comes through. I got it. Okay.
Melissa:And then spills all the contents out. Yeah. It's kinda like that.
Jam:Wow. Gosh. That's crazy. Yeah. It does smell a lot violent that when you think about water balloons or like a bag or something.
Jam:Yeah.
Melissa:You think
Jam:about it like a like Yeah.
Melissa:A living thing sort of?
Jam:Yeah.
Melissa:Yeah. I had these I don't know if my friend Ali will remember, but I did an research thing 1 summer. Uh-huh. And I was studying these dinoflagellates, and when they would die, they had a little membrane around them. I don't really remember exactly what it was made up of.
Melissa:And when it would die, it would spill its guts all out. It'd break open and spill its guts out.
Jam:What?
Melissa:And it it reminds me a lot of this only. I think that happened naturally, and this happens unnaturally by us washing our hands.
Jam:Right. Right.
Melissa:So that's that's it. That's how soap works To kill viruses specifically.
Jam:Wow. That's amazing.
Melissa:That is the most widely accepted understanding.
Jam:Okay. Okay. Wow.
Melissa:But There's more.
Jam:Woah.
Melissa:Okay. So I think that would be a good thing for you to tell me back.
Jam:And then we continue?
Melissa:And then I have a few other interesting things that I learned, and I wanna sort of talk about alcohol hand sanitizers.
Jam:Okay. Okay. So soap, We talked about a ton about the structure of it in the past.
Melissa:Mhmm. Yes.
Jam:But the the basics are that it is A soap molecule or whatever is a nonpolar chain
Melissa:Mhmm.
Jam:With a polar end
Melissa:Mhmm.
Jam:To it. Water is polar.
Melissa:Right.
Jam:Polar likes polar. Mhmm. Non polar likes non polar kind of.
Melissa:Right.
Jam:It's one way to say it. And The
Melissa:We say like dissolves like. Or like interacts with like.
Jam:Yeah. We say like that, like, Like dissolves, like, like or whatever.
Melissa:Okay. Go back to your explanation.
Jam:And and, And it is so happens that not just happens, but it's how the world works. The membrane around viruses
Melissa:Some viruses.
Jam:Some viruses. And also, like, Our cells and a lot of things in the world Mhmm. Is a non polar lipid, membrane. Mhmm. And so if you just try to put some water on your hands to get something like COVID nineteen coronavirus off of your hands
Melissa:Mhmm.
Jam:The water wouldn't be able to interact with the the polar water, which is polar Right. Would not be able to interact in the same way with the Nonpolar membrane of the virus.
Melissa:Right.
Jam:Maybe you could wash it off, but it wouldn't actually
Melissa:It shouldn't even wash off because it adheres to your hands. The oil is oil.
Jam:Mhmm. Ah.
Melissa:Adheres to your hands more daily than water. It would adhere to water. So, actually, it has the twofold benefit of surrounding the virus even if it couldn't break it up And breaking up that liquid layer.
Jam:Okay. So our hands I mean, yeah, just putting something polar on our hands, try to wash them off, wouldn't help if it's a non polar. Right. Little virus.
Melissa:Mhmm.
Jam:So the soap molecule Mhmm. Is able to get into The membrane Yeah. Of the virus because it has the non polar part.
Melissa:Right.
Jam:Pop that little water balloon, that little evil water balloon
Melissa:Mhmm.
Jam:That's causing so much mischief out there. And basically kill it.
Melissa:That's exactly right.
Jam:And wash its its little wretched body down the drain.
Melissa:Right. So you basically spill out its contents, and you wash it away at the same time.
Jam:Wow.
Melissa:Now it's possible Mhmm. That those proteins are polar that stick out, the crown like proteins that stick out around it. Uh-huh. I'm not positive.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:So but if if they're not, then soap is the only way to get it off.
Jam:Right. Okay.
Melissa:Just water doesn't work.
Jam:Yeah.
Melissa:And you need to do it for 20 seconds.
Jam:Mhmm. But
Melissa:we'll talk about that more at the end.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:Okay. So I read
Jam:Mhmm.
Melissa:One paper. So I you know, there's all this, like, pop science, how to soap kill viruses up everywhere. I relied heavily on information from the CDC, the NIH. There was one New York Times article that Interviewed a professor of chemistry, doctor Paul Thartisan, at University of New South Wales. Mhmm.
Melissa:So I tried to Focus on those kinds of sources that I knew were good as always. Uh-huh. But I always go to my library's page and just do a quick search see what I can find. Yeah. I found an interesting book about coronaviruses.
Melissa:Mhmm. There's a chapter about coronaviruses, You know, all the other ones before this particular COVID nineteen came out Yeah. This novel virus.
Jam:Mhmm.
Melissa:I found A lot of really cool papers
Jam:Uh-huh.
Melissa:That were all about why hand washing is effective and how long to wash your hands. People have studied this. This is not just some Arbitrary thing people tell you to do wash your hands. There is scientific evidence that washing your hands helps.
Jam:Right. When and even when we don't have something like this going on, it's super important. Yes. Every year, there's a different, you know, flu strain or whatever.
Melissa:Mhmm.
Jam:And so even even though this is happening now, every year, it's important for us to do that. Right. And could have a huge effect on people's health. So it makes sense that people are always worried about it.
Melissa:Yes. And studying it. Yeah. There's so much scientific evidence to back it up, and they Have studied different amounts of times, all this stuff. It was really interesting to dive down that because I have never looked into that at all.
Jam:Wow. Yeah.
Melissa:But I found 1 fun paper that talked about the flu virus. So not corona not a coronavirus, not a COVID virus, just the flu. Mhmm. A flu virus Mhmm. That suggested the paper theorized
Jam:Mhmm.
Melissa:That within the lipid membrane, there are these proteins that can be charged. And on the charged proteins, if the soap has if they're positively charged and soap is negatively charged
Jam:Mhmm.
Melissa:That If those 2 interact and there's an exothermic reaction, the heat can help destabilize the virus and break it open that way. Wow. So Who knows for sure? Mhmm. I think the most widely accepted, the one we talked about where it breaks in and breaks apart is The most likely answer, but there could be another layer that if your virus has some positively charged proteins in its membrane Mhmm.
Melissa:And you have a nice negatively charged soap, they could interact and have a more effective destabilizing impact. Isn't that crazy? Yeah. So it could be more than just the nonpolar and polar ends. There may be even more things about soap that break down
Jam:Yeah.
Melissa:Lipid membranes.
Jam:And that'd be specific to, like, Some of the membranes being different from just straight up nonpolar. Like, it'd have to have the
Melissa:stuff you're talking about. Virus had a positively charged protein Studying the membrane layer.
Jam:So that that made a big difference in
Melissa:the extra So Okay. Mhmm. I just found it and thought it was really interesting. And I was like, Woah. There's so much more going on than we even know about.
Jam:Yeah.
Melissa:And we're still learning always about things happening at a molecular level.
Jam:Right. So I
Melissa:just thought that was a fun, interesting fact to throw in there that I found in my searchings.
Jam:Gosh. It's so crazy how much is going on at the molecular level, period. Like, it's just kind of I mean, think too much about it. It's almost overwhelming. Yeah.
Jam:We have all these little things in there, and and there's this situation we're in right now, a lot more cause for concern than normal. But in general, there could be any number of, like, Rough stuff on our hands that we pick up from anywhere Yes. We can't see. Mhmm. And we don't really I mean, many of us don't really know Yes.
Jam:It works to, like, get rid of them. I mean, it's just it's kinda crazy.
Melissa:I didn't have a car Mhmm. For a year of my life actually, Jim and I became much closer friends at that time because we were neighbors.
Jam:That's right.
Melissa:And he and his wife would get me around, pick me up sometimes and drop me off. And so I rode the bus a lot, though, during that time, and I happen to be reading a book by Richard Preston, And he does books that are usually read in school about viruses. Uh-huh. And he talked this particular book, he talked about smallpox a lot Yeah. And the spread of smallpox.
Melissa:And he also talked about biological warfare, and I thought I'm a number 1 candidate As a public transportation user Oh, no. I was reading it on a bus. I'm like, this is a mistake.
Jam:Gosh. Dang.
Melissa:But So it really is crazy how much is going on at that level all the time, and that for the most part, we're okay. Yeah. Their bodies are pretty amazing. They just Lock it down and
Jam:Yeah.
Melissa:And keep us healthy for the most part, which is pretty incredible.
Jam:Yeah. I've been thinking so much about all of this, like, Cleaning your hands. I mean, a lot of us have. There was a book I read years ago in middle school where there was a biological it was like it was fiction. A biological weapon kinda deal this guy had made, and he also arranged for to already have the cure so that he could Profit immensely from this situation he's gonna cause.
Jam:Mhmm. So he got a guy to just coat himself in the, You know, biological weapon they'd made, and then just go to an airport and get on a plane kinda thing.
Melissa:Yikes.
Jam:And just made sure, you know, he just did a lot of the normal things like I mean, he'd you're always gonna touch the security belt thing you put your stuff on to get be X rayed. You're gonna
Melissa:Yep.
Jam:You know, touch the X-ray machine when you get in maybe, and things like that that, like Touch the Food tray. The food tray. Yeah.
Melissa:Oh, yes.
Jam:So like that. The see he sits on my way for his flight. All this stuff. And that was just a plan on purpose because like, yeah. It's gonna be easy.
Jam:People aren't washing their hands very well. This is gonna spread like crazy. And, Obviously, that was fiction, but it is, like, rooted in reality about how easily things can spread. And it's, like, just it's really terrifying
Melissa:Yes.
Jam:To think about.
Melissa:Absolutely. Especially in these trying times. Yeah. We're
Jam:not planning on rereading that book for a while Mm-mm. Until things seem less real.
Melissa:Right. Well, let's talk a little bit about hand sanitizer.
Jam:Okay. Yes, please.
Melissa:So With all the things I've read about how that works
Jam:Mhmm.
Melissa:The number one thing that I've seen consistently
Jam:is
Melissa:that soap is better than hand sanitizer. Mhmm. Hand sanitizer is harder to find information on the chemical function of, but it seems that it also destabilizes that lipid layer Uh-huh. The membrane of viruses. Okay.
Melissa:Because alcohol is in general, their structure does have a nonpolar and a more polar part. It's not as drastic as soap.
Jam:Okay. But it it's like, The way it works in the 1st place is that it has a similar
Melissa:Very slight. It's much smaller nonpolar tail, less Significantly polar alcohol group, but it is it has some of those same features. So I assume it would basically work The same way.
Jam:Because if it didn't have, like, polar and nonpolar, then it would be like, okay. Wait. How could this be even be remotely close to, like
Melissa:But it's short nonpolar tail. So, Chemically, I'm not really clear on how it destabilizes, just that it does. But it needs to be 60% alcohol to be effective. It needs to be concentrated, Which means if there's any water or dirt or anything like that on your hands, it could possibly Be less effective or not effective at all. So Or, you know, the dirt could impede it from touching everything on your hands.
Jam:Right. Right. Right.
Melissa:So what the CDC has consistently said is wash your hands with soap and water for 20 seconds. And if you cannot do that, then use hand sanitizer.
Jam:Got it. Okay.
Melissa:Because it's An okay temporary measure, but it's not as effective as soap is gonna be, soap and water Right. Overall.
Jam:Got it.
Melissa:Okay. Hand sanitizer does destabilize some of the membranes on virus, but it's not as effective. Mhmm. And If you happen to buy a hand sanitizer that's maybe not regulated or that doesn't reach that concentration, I don't know. Yeah.
Melissa:I don't know anything about the industry standards of that.
Jam:So Right. Right.
Melissa:I think if you have the option, wash your hands as much as possible.
Jam:Yeah. Why not be, yeah, why not be as careful as possible and do the thing that has Mhmm. The best chance
Melissa:Right.
Jam:Of killing.
Melissa:1, it was a different type of virus, but it said that hand sanitizer was relatively ineffective. Not like It was less effective. It was essentially not effective compared to the soap and water.
Jam:Right.
Melissa:So just better.
Jam:Yeah.
Melissa:Better to use soap and water wherever you can. Mhmm. And then if you can't access that you know, when I'm in the grocery store, I can't be stopping to wash my hands, but Yeah. I've been putting the hand sanitizer on the grocery store.
Jam:For sure.
Melissa:And keep your social distancing.
Jam:And, obviously, in situations that aren't about a very specific, like, unprecedented virus.
Melissa:Right.
Jam:Everyday use. Like, it's great to have that on hand. You it's so easy
Melissa:Yes.
Jam:To have it in your in your bag or pocket or thing. Right. But, Obviously, this is a different deal.
Melissa:They did say if your hands were visibly dirty, soap and water is better.
Jam:Right. Right.
Melissa:Because visibly dirty or greasy is gonna keep that hand sanitizer from being effective.
Jam:Yeah.
Melissa:So for both of them, make sure that you're touching all areas of your hands, the backs of your hands, in between your fingers. The hand sanitizer needs to go everywhere to be effective. Mhmm. And rub it until it dries. Don't wipe it off.
Jam:Mhmm.
Melissa:If it still feels wet after you rubbed a little bit. That's not gonna do the job. So use as much as directed and wipe it all over your hands. Rub it all over everywhere until it feels dry. With soap and water, You need to do it for 20 seconds.
Melissa:Uh-huh. There's a cool video from Vox that was about it was basically the same thing.
Jam:Yeah.
Melissa:And they showed Your hands when you wash them for a shorter amount of time. 5 seconds, 10 seconds, and then 20 seconds with the UV light. Yeah. And there have been studies. I found studies online about the length of time we should wash our hands.
Melissa:So 20 seconds really is Important. Mhmm. And to demonstrate that, Jim and I are gonna put a 22nd timer on and and just And now we will know what 20 seconds feels like. Yeah. Should we sing happy birthday 2 times?
Melissa:That's what they say.
Jam:Are there other options? Other songs?
Melissa:Somebody said Lizzo's truth hurts chorus, maybe?
Jam:K. I don't know that one.
Melissa:What what if we did the alphabet?
Jam:That's a good one. I like the alphabet.
Melissa:Okay. Are we both gonna sing it?
Jam:But which alphabet song do you listen to do you do?
Melissa:The one that goes a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, o, j, k, element.
Jam:Usually do the alphabet shuffle tune, but we could do yours. It's fine.
Melissa:You're crazy. Okay. And 20 seconds starts now. A
Jam:a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h I j k l m n r p q r s t u v w, x, y, and z.
Melissa:Now I know.
Jam:Oh, we did that for your a, b, c's.
Melissa:Time is up.
Jam:Oh, so you don't even have to sing it the whole way?
Melissa:You should probably, just for good measure, sing to now I know my a b c's.
Jam:And then the next time what you say with me part is, like, just extra extra
Melissa:Mhmm.
Jam:Just to make sure.
Melissa:Yes. Yeah. So I didn't know how long 20 seconds was. Yeah. I've not been washing my hands properly all these years.
Jam:I probably haven't either. I mean, And and so much of the time, I mean, you're just you're in the middle of your day. You're getting back to what you're doing at work or whatever.
Melissa:Mhmm.
Jam:You're about to eat a meal and you're excited about it and you're Starving? Yeah. You're just thinking about, let me just do the thing. Let me do the ritual so I'll feel good. Mhmm.
Jam:I'll feel fine about going eating. Yep. Getting back to work. Yes. And let's do it.
Jam:And it's like, that was, like, 6 seconds
Melissa:I know. It
Jam:at best.
Melissa:It's similar to when you get a timer. I was listening to My favorite murder. And she said when I got the Quip toothbrush, I realized how Yeah. I wasn't brushing my teeth for long ago.
Jam:Totally. Totally.
Melissa:And the same thing when I they were singing happy birthday to themselves.
Jam:Yeah.
Melissa:You're like you're 2 times, I think, for happy birthday. Uh-huh. This one's just once. So, Yeah. I didn't know.
Melissa:I wanted to do that exercise on here so that people would actually see how long 20 seconds is, and then now go try to wash your hands that amount of time and really Yeah. Dig into that ABC song
Jam:Totally.
Melissa:And see how long 20 seconds is and if you've been washing your hands long map this whole time.
Jam:And if you if you do get a little bit tired of the ABC song, like, obviously, it's important to keep washing your hands for that long. So go look up the alphabet shuffle. It can kinda mix up your tune a little bit.
Melissa:I don't know what the alphabet shuffle is you keep talking about.
Jam:I'll show you.
Melissa:Oh my gosh. I'm a little worried.
Jam:You'll love it. It's like, I just imagine, like, this song that you've done forever, ABCs. I just imagine it getting being better. Like, holy. Is this possible?
Melissa:Okay. So those 2 guidelines
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:For for washing your hands, getting all over Mhmm. Going 20 seconds hand sanitizer going all over, rubbing until it does not feel like there's any moisture left on your hands. Mhmm. Don't touch your face with your dirty hands.
Jam:Mhmm.
Melissa:That'll stop the coronavirus COVID nineteen spread. And, that's all we have for you today.
Jam:Can you imagine if we knew how many people actually had on their hands, but prevented themselves from getting it by washing properly.
Melissa:That made my mind Feel crazy.
Jam:Like, if we somehow just had that kind of knowledge.
Melissa:Yeah. We estimate see it.
Jam:We estimate that about 20,000 people Prevented themselves from actually getting the virus, but did have it on their hands.
Melissa:Yeah. Isn't that weird?
Jam:That would inspire a lot of good Handwashing practices. We should already be plenty inspired, but that would that would give us an extra kick, I think.
Melissa:Yeah. It's super interesting. And I have all my references listed in our show notes as always, but there are a lot about hand washing Mhmm. And studies about handwashing, all the CDC has all their references listed on their website. So there is if you don't believe us, Mhmm.
Melissa:There are lots of places you can go to check-in on why hand washing really matters and is effective.
Jam:Yeah. And most importantly, We care about you guys. And so this is a relevant topic, but we also want you guys to be safe and not get sick. And So I think it's just really good to to play it safe even if there's slightly different, you know, metrics out there or whatever. Being safe is always the best way to do it.
Jam:So.
Melissa:Yeah. And by protecting yourself, you're also protecting the larger community that maybe doesn't have as good of immunity. Or Yeah. I mean, you can't really tell who's gonna be okay from getting in, who's not. So you're protecting yourself, and you're protecting others, and that's what we care about.
Jam:Mhmm.
Melissa:Yeah. Do you wanna talk about something good from this week, or do you wanna talk about something that changed because of the current pandemic And how you're impacted by it.
Jam:Oh, that's an interesting idea. Yeah. One big change is so, I already have a weird work situation, so there hasn't been, like, a ton of change there. Some scheduling stuff has been either canceled or or rearranged or whatever for me. My wife's job is the same.
Jam:She works in medicine. So
Melissa:Mhmm. She's
Jam:I mean, it's more stressful for her, but her shifts still happen. And And like a lot of other medical personnel, they're, it's stressful and working hard, but they're doing everything they can.
Melissa:Yeah. I just wanna say thanks. Yeah. Thanks to your wife and all the medical professionals out there who are doing their best to keep us safe by putting their lives at risk. That's really incredible.
Jam:Yeah. It really is. In terms of, like, a day to day difference, one of my roommates, like a lot of people's jobs, but his entire company has gone remote for now. And so he's been home a lot more, but a lot of his job is phone calls. And so it's kind of been cool having around because we can, like, Like, I see him throughout the day.
Jam:He'll come out and grab, you know, snack or eat lunch or get a drink or something. And so we'll talk for a little bit, but he's on phone calls so much during the day. And so he actually had to, like, move his desk from our com common area back to another area where he could on phone calls and not be disturbed by dogs barking and also not feel like he is disturbing everybody else who happens to be around by being on a phone call. And so but it's been interesting for him to be home a lot more and kinda cool. I mean, it feels like it'd be fun if that was Always the case.
Jam:Yeah. And it'd be fine if it wasn't for these reasons. But
Melissa:Right.
Jam:But it's been kinda cool because, typically, I'd always see him on weekends and in the evenings kinda thing. So that's been enjoyable, at least. Yeah. What about you?
Melissa:My situation is the exact opposite of yours. Uh-huh. Everything in my life has changed completely. I don't see my students anymore. Yeah.
Melissa:Which is so sad. I love my students. Yeah. I don't see my students anymore. I don't go to classes anymore.
Melissa:I don't see my Coworkers, I don't see my classmates for my classes that I was attending. Mhmm. I am hardly ever on campus now. It's just Changed actually quite a bit.
Jam:Yeah.
Melissa:And that's been a weird adjustment. Absolutely. A lot of my conferences have been canceled, which I was supposed to present my 1st ever conference about the podcast, and that got canceled. So I'm really sad about that.
Jam:Dang it.
Melissa:But, hopefully, there's 1 in July that I applied for. So, hopefully, that one still comes through. So it's just been kind of a Everything's different for me, but one good thing that's come out of it is my mom actually has been really sick For a while, she has cancer. We've talked about it a little
Jam:on
Melissa:the show. And I can work remotely and be with her
Jam:Yeah.
Melissa:A lot. Yeah. And that would never be true if if it weren't for this weird pandemic. And my sister actually Is home too because she's working remotely.
Jam:Uh-huh.
Melissa:My siblings, my brother and sister-in-law are in the restaurant industry, so they currently are not having to work. So Yeah. We all just get to be home and be with my mom in an Precedent and turn of events. We that never would have happened so
Jam:Yeah.
Melissa:Smoothly
Jam:Right. Right.
Melissa:For any other reason that I can possibly imagine. So Yeah. It's awful, and I'm so sad that it's because of this pandemic and people are hurting. But Mhmm. I'm so thankful that we get Some time with her altogether as a family.
Melissa:Yeah. It's really good.
Jam:Yeah. That's a crazy weird silver lining. Too pretty Right. Hard, Heartbreaking situations, but there's, like, a weird silver lining there that's at least like something. Yeah.
Jam:So that's good.
Melissa:Well and I do wanna say my mom and a lot of other people's family members are part of at risk populations. Yeah. So I would really ask I saw A thing on Twitter where a medical worker held up a sign that said, we're going to work for you. Please stay home for us.
Jam:Yeah.
Melissa:And I can't underline that enough.
Jam:Yeah.
Melissa:Stay home whenever you can. If you're not essential for your workplace, be at home. Mhmm. Don't do social outings. Don't go out unless you absolutely have do because we wanna protect the people that we can.
Jam:Yeah. Both of our moms are in that category. Yeah. So and I think a lot of people listening probably have family members or friends or loved ones that are
Melissa:Or they themselves.
Jam:Or they themselves. Yeah. So, It doesn't you don't have to look too far to know somebody in that category. So I think it's it's very, very real and a lot closer than sometimes it feels like it is.
Melissa:Right. Well, thanks so much, Jim, for sharing about your pandemic experience. Yeah. If you guys wanna write in and tell us how the pandemic is impacting you, We love hearing from you guys. Yeah.
Melissa:And thanks for listening and learning about how soap kills viruses today.
Jam:Mohsin, I have a lot of ideas for topics of chemistry in everyday life, but wanna hear from you. So if you have questions or ideas, you can reach out to us on Gmail, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook atchem for your life, that's kim, f o r, your life, to share thoughts and ideas. If you enjoy this podcast, you can subscribe on your favorite podcast app. And if you really like it, you can write a review on Apple Podcasts. That helps us to be able to share chemistry with even more people.
Jam:If you like to help us keep our show going and contribute to cover the cost of making it, Go to kodashfi.com/chem for your life, and donate the cost of a cup of coffee.
Melissa:This episode of Chemistry For Your Life was created by Melissa Collini and Jim Robinson. References for this episode can be found in our show notes or on our website. Jam Robinson is our producer, and we'd like to give a special thanks to V Garza and Inhul who reviewed this episode.
