A talk by Martha Gardner
Scientist William S. Gump of the Givaudin-Delawanna chemical company synthesized the chemical compound hexachlorophene in the early 1940s. A germicide with the ability to kill infectious microbes when added to soaps, the chemical decreased the amount of time necessary to clean hands and also remained on the hands after washing, continuing to destroy germs. Its use was soon widespread in surgical washes and in solutions used to wash babies in hospital nurseries. This talk explores the early popularity and later downfall of this antimicrobial chemical compound.
Martha N. Gardner, Ph.D., is an assistant professor of history and social sciences at the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences.
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