Harvard prof says it’s ‘hygiene theater’
Claims people are over-cleaning surfaces
Too much time and money is spent cleaning surfaces and practicing “hygiene theater,” according to a Harvard expert on environmental health, when more attention should turn to maskwearing and ventilation.
“We are over-cleaning our surfaces,” said Joseph Allen, associate professor of exposure assessment science at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
“Schools are spending a massive amount of money addressing something that is not leading to transmission, or it is very little and very rare,” said Allen of coronavirus spread via contaminated surfaces, of which there there has not been a single documented case.
Instead of “over-cleaning” every surface that has been touched, it’s much easier and more effective to emphasize handwashing, and even more importantly, maskwearing and proper ventilation, said Allen, referencing his recent opinion piece on the matter published in The Washington Post.
Allen said disinfecting a surface is easy to do with a simple rag and common cleaner, but many schools, businesses and work places go overboard with misters, foggers and other cleaning techniques that aren’t necessary.
“Fogging doesn’t make sense, you’re releasing a mist or a fog of cleaning chemicals. One, it’s a respiratory hazard and two, it’s clearly not doing anything to disinfect the air, of which ventilation would do a much better job,” said Allen during a Friday Harvard webcast.
Allen said all the enhanced cleaning is “hygiene theater,” used to make people feel more comfortable or give the appearance of a safe and healthy environment.
“Spraying misters and stuff, that’s theater. It’s not really leading to any kind of reduction in risk,” said Allen.
He said people should look out for gimmicks such as new cleaning technology and stick to the basics when practicing safe hygiene in public such as social distancing and wearing a mask.
Proper ventilation and air filtration is also key in reducing transmission, said Allen. Schools and offices can become “pandemic-resilient” by achieving a high number of air changes per hour, opening windows, using air purifiers and HEPA filters.
“We’re emitting these particles that will actually stay aloft for 30 minutes, an hour, or more until they’re removed through one of two ways — they’re diluted out of the air through ventilation (or) they’re cleaned out of the air through filtration,” said Allen.