You’ll definitely want to wash your hands. And I do mean washing your hands for real.

At the park or not, be careful always. A dog owner asks whether his hands are clean after… you know… using a plastic bag to scoop up his dog’s poop. He’s also curious if the risk of hand contamination goes up the longer he’s left holding the bag. Is there a chance for the microbes to get on his hands? Should he worry? What should he do?

it can happen anytime

In short, I don’t think it’s much to worry about. Plastic forms a good antibacterial barrier. You’re more likely to get exposed to various germs directly through contact with your dog. The one exception is in case there’s a tear or a hole in the bag. In which case… You’ll definitely want to wash your hands. And I do mean washing your hands for real. Hand sanitizer might be useful for many things, but it cannot kill spores such as C. diff or parasitic worm eggs… but these are the germs you might be exposed to when you come into contact with dog poop. Fact is, nothing beats washing your hands with good old soap and water. If you’re heading to the dog park, and you’re concerned about germs, then you might like the following product. It’s called “paper soap” and it’s basically packets of single-use soap, in a little waterproof plastic case.  It’s pretty magical to see one of these thin sheets of soap vanish into lather at first contact with water.

Clean hands even after handling dog poop bags

Paper soaps might be useful to you at the dog park. All you’ll need is this paper soap and a water fountain… and you’ll be sure to have clean, germ-free hands, regardless of how long you’ve been holding that bag: