Community Updates

Dow Provides Solutions and Education to Promote Healthy Living through Handwashing

More than one million people are killed by water, sanitation and hygiene-related disease each year.1 One of the most effective and affordable ways to prevent the transmission of disease is through handwashing with soap. This is why Dow Home & Personal Care – a business unit of DowDuPont Materials Science Division – has made it a priority to promote healthy handwashing with its innovations and support of Global Handwashing Day, Oct. 15.

Published 7 years ago | About a 3 minute read

Global Handwashing Day was established to educate consumers on the importance of handwashing with soap. For less than a minute per wash, handwashing can help people around the world live a healthier life. Dow participates in the event to share its commitment to provide cost-effective solutions to make handwashing more accessible, last longer and feel better on skin.

“Although it may seem like a simple solution, many people don’t realize the important and positive health impact of soap,” said Eunice Heath, environment, health, safety & sustainability (EHS&S) global director for Dow Consumer Solutions, which includes Dow Home & Personal Care. “Our hand soap solutions are developed to use less water and resources, meet local water conditions and provide accessibility to more people in regions around the globe.”

Dow’s ingredients that promote handwashing and drive positive change, include:

POLYOX™ Water Soluble Polymers: create an enhanced soap formulation that lasts longer and provides better value with improved sensory feel. Unilever used POLYOX Water Soluble Polymers to improve its Lifebuoy soap and provide an affordable hygiene solution to economically challenged regions.
ACULYN™ Rheology Modifiers: suspend active ingredients and bubbles to adjust flow properties, enhance texture and stabilize, even at low pH values. It enables milder cleansers and thickens body wash formulations. When combined with suspended particles ACULYN Rheology Modifiers deliver multi-functional cleansing products with specialized beauty benefits, such as moisturizing, exfoliating or anti-aging.

Dow is a strategic partner with the Global Handwashing Partnership and facilitates global events to educate and promote proper handwashing practices. To see if an event is taking place in your community, visit the Global Handwashing Partnership’s interactive map. Through Dow’s 2025 Sustainability Goals to engage employees for impact and commitment to global citizenship, the company is partnering with organizations in community-based efforts to encourage people to wash their hands with soap at critical times, including:

In Singapore, DowCorps volunteers and employees of one of the business’ customers will teach local children in Singapore how to effectively reduce the spread of germs and disease through proper handwashing during an event on Oct. 30, 2017.
In Ghana and Kenya, Dow and community partner Global Communities are holding local events to educate children on proper handwashing techniques, as well as procure/install/repair handwashing stations in schools. Up to 2,000 residents will be positively impacted by these activities.

“By partnering with local organizations and our customers on local education and community handwashing initiatives, we can advance the well-being and health of society,” said Rob Vallentine, director of Global Citizenship for Dow and president of The Dow Chemical Company Foundation. “Global Handwashing Day is an opportunity for us to engage our employees, our expertise and our science as a bridge to address global challenges and develop community solutions.”

To learn more about Dow Home & Personal Care’s technologies that encourage healthy handwashing, please visit cleanhands.dow.com and follow @DowHomePersonal.