Yes, but what about that other 0.1% of yuck?
@asfarasiknow (3340)
Bournemouth, England
March 26, 2017 2:24pm CST
You must have seen them: those disinfectant sprays and wipes or washing up liquids with TV ads and labels claiming that the product 'kills 99.9% of bacteria'.
OK....but it's the surviving bit that scares me.
Why can't somebody come up with one that kills 100%? Or maybe they have, but if they said so then no-one would feel the need to buy any more so they say '99,9%' instead. Just to worry the likes of me.
I think about these things. I plainly have too much time on my hands (as well as 0.1% germs).
14 people like this
16 responses
@arthurchappell (44998)
• Preston, England
26 Mar 17
that puzzles me too - that 0000.1% could be plague or typhoid
4 people like this
@arthurchappell (44998)
• Preston, England
26 Mar 17
@asfarasiknow to me a runny nose is the cold clammy hand of doom coming to take me
3 people like this
@asfarasiknow (3340)
• Bournemouth, England
26 Mar 17
@arthurchappell It's lovely using public transport when there's someone nearby coughing, sneezing or talking loudly about some sick member of their household, isn't it?
3 people like this
@asfarasiknow (3340)
• Bournemouth, England
26 Mar 17
Well, as long as it's nothing serious...
4 people like this
@marguicha (223795)
• Chile
26 Mar 17
I don´t believe there´s any product in the world that can kill 99% of the bacteria.
2 people like this
@asfarasiknow (3340)
• Bournemouth, England
26 Mar 17
It could just be an impressive-sounding figure pulled out of the air.
1 person likes this
@KrauseHome (36447)
• United States
27 Mar 17
There are all natural products out there that might be able to make better claims and are better for you but they are usually expensive.
2 people like this
@asfarasiknow (3340)
• Bournemouth, England
27 Mar 17
That's the problem: smaller sales so bigger prices. I use natural products for things like bird feeders where I wouldn't expose birds to those harsh chemicals. Still use them for humans, though!
@asfarasiknow (3340)
• Bournemouth, England
27 Mar 17
It looks to me as if they're not trying hard enough...
1 person likes this
@teamfreak16 (43418)
• Denver, Colorado
26 Mar 17
I'm a germaphobe. I totally agree.
2 people like this
@asfarasiknow (3340)
• Bournemouth, England
26 Mar 17
As I am sure some have gleaned from this discussion, so am I.
1 person likes this
@FayeHazel (40243)
• United States
27 Mar 17
I know, I have wondered that too. Is it because nothing is 100%? Here's another thing to worry about -- it's nice that it kills bacteria - but what does it do about viruses?
2 people like this
@asfarasiknow (3340)
• Bournemouth, England
27 Mar 17
Some products here do say on the packaging that they kill specific viruses but who knows really...?
@allen0187 (58582)
• Philippines
11 Jul 17
Proof that germs are better than us humans!
1 person likes this
@asfarasiknow (3340)
• Bournemouth, England
14 Jul 17
That can't do much for our self esteem.
1 person likes this
@lovinangelsinstead21 (36850)
• Pamplona, Spain
26 Mar 17
I don´t buy any of that kind of washing up liquid now I just keep to the ordinary stuff.
Find some of those washing up liquids are way too strong and expensive also.
So now I stick with one brand and that´s it.
1 person likes this
@lovinangelsinstead21 (36850)
• Pamplona, Spain
26 Mar 17
@asfarasiknow
Yep, so I went back to a normal brand and more or less I keep within that line of brands.
1 person likes this
@asfarasiknow (3340)
• Bournemouth, England
26 Mar 17
The 'antibacterial' label certainly bumps up the price.
1 person likes this
@lovinangelsinstead21 (36850)
• Pamplona, Spain
5 Apr 17
@Lupita234
I reckon we are much better off with ordinary Soap as dragon54 says our immune system could be challenged and not work properly for us if we are overloading it.
1 person likes this
@Poppylicious (11133)
•
26 Mar 17
The world needs bacteria to survive. If they create one which kills 100% of bacteria then we're all up sh!t creek without a paddle.
1 person likes this
@asfarasiknow (3340)
• Bournemouth, England
26 Mar 17
Oh, if there's profit in it, some pharmaceutical company will find a way to clean up that creek. Or 99.9% of it...
@JudyEv (342110)
• Rockingham, Australia
27 Mar 17
They can't say 100% or someone will prove them wrong and then sue them. 
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@asfarasiknow (3340)
• Bournemouth, England
27 Mar 17
So it gets used up.quicker so it has to be replaced quicker so the '99.9% and not 100%' claim does its job and gets us to spend!
1 person likes this
@CRK109 (14556)
• United States
28 Mar 17
@asfarasiknow I'm sure that's part of it! Businesses will say anything to make us spend more money.
1 person likes this
@asfarasiknow (3340)
• Bournemouth, England
27 Mar 17
Immortal and invisible. Perhaps we could learn something from their survival skills.
@subhajitsil6 (961)
• Kolkata, India
26 Mar 17
i hardly feel if they work a bit or not. And perhaps they say this 99.9% so even if after the usage of there product if you test and found some bacterias they will say we never said 100 percent of the bacteria will be gone. Thats the reason perhaps. And most of the bacteria aren't harmful to us so even they stay or not it really doesn't matters a lot.
1 person likes this
@asfarasiknow (3340)
• Bournemouth, England
26 Mar 17
Yes, it's a way of covering themselves. And it obviously sounds better than 99.8 or 99.7%!
1 person likes this
@kevinakash (2084)
• Sri Lanka
24 Apr 17
seriously i too have thought of this. i think scientifically any chemical cannot kill 100%. so by citing that it will be a drawback for their business.
@Jon2071 (256)
• United States
7 Apr 17
Well, I figure we can look at the 0.1% in two ways. Either we can be optimistic and believe that the 0.1% are the beneficial germs that are harmless to us and should not be killed. We could believe that the disinfectant is able to somehow able to distinguish between the two and leaves the good germs a lone. On the other hand, it could be that the 0.1% represents the super germs that are almost impossible to kill and are the nastiest germs around. But please don't take anything that I just wrote to heart. I know very little about germs and very little about disinfectants so I"m just having fun with this discussion.
