Lupe Hernandez, a nursing student in California in 1966, is the woman behind hand sanitizer.
Hernandez was in nursing school in Bakersfield, California when she thought about a gel form of rubbing alcohol. Hernandez realized that a gel form of alcohol would make it possible for people to clean their hands while on the go with no access to water and soap.
Hernandez knew she was on to something so she reached out to an invention hotline and submitted a patent.
Hand sanitizer was just an industry product until the H1N1 viral outbreak in 2009.
The 2009 outbreak of H1N1 drove up the demand for hand sanitizer among the public and it was soon packaged for consumers. According to The Guardian, the value of the hand sanitizer market has grown exponentially since the time before and after the H1N1 scare.
In 2018, the global hand sanitizer market value was $2.6 billion. The Guardian reports that the U.S. market value of hand sanitizer was $28 million in 2002 and $80 million in 2006.
