What effect can hand hygiene products and procedures have on the skin?

The most appropriate answer indicates that hand hygiene products and procedures can extract skin lipids. Skin lipids are an essential component of the skin's barrier, preventing moisture loss and protecting against external irritants and pathogens. Frequent use of alcohol-based hand sanitizers or other antiseptics can indeed lead to the removal of these lipids, which may result in dryness, irritation, or chapping of the skin.

While it is important to maintain hand hygiene in infection control, the chemical nature of many hand hygiene products can compromise the skin's natural barrier by stripping away these protective lipids. Understanding this impact emphasizes the need for using moisturizing agents or barrier creams to help maintain skin integrity following frequent hand hygiene practices.