Is Hand Sanitiser a Hazardous Product?
In recent years, hand sanitiser has gone from a fringe purchase to an everyday essential for many people. You may have heard some concerns expressed about the hazards and dangers of using sanitiser. We go on to ask and answer the question “Is hand sanitiser hazardous”?
What is being hazardous?
A definition of hazardous is:
“Being full of risk, perilous or dependent on chance.”
Dictionary.com
Similar words to hazardous are chancy, dangerous, uncertain, and unsafe.
In what ways is hand sanitiser hazardous?
This all depends on the formulation. The list below are hand sanitiser hazards for alcohol-based hand sanitisers. It is important to stress this fact as different formulations are available:
- Chemical cocktail – mixing of alcohol-based hand sanitisers can create an unintended “chemical cocktail”. This usually occurs when hand sanitiser is replaced/refilled. As different alcohol-based hand sanitisers have different chemical formulations, potential dangers arise when two different formulations are mixed
- Environmental damage – various types of damage to the environment have arisen through the release of alcohol into the environment. These can cause:
- water pollution – this affects aquatic animals such as ducks, fish, frogs, and swans. Alcohol (particularly Triclosan) impacts the water table and often arises from domestic and commercial waste being released into streams and rivers
- soil pollution – penetration of soil with alcohol (particularly ethanol) has been proven to cause damage to trees and plants. In turn, this can impact honey bees and other animals reliant on plant life
- Flammability – as alcohol-based hand sanitiser contains alcohol it is by its very nature flammable. Alcohols such as ethanol, isopropyl, methanol, propanol, triclosan, etc., are easy to ignite. These have caused issues with alcohol-based sanitiser (even in small quantities igniting in cars)
- Skin damage – it is well-known that alcohol-based sanitisers cause drying and cracking of the skin with repeated use. The strong alcohol levels needed to kill microorganisms remove essential oils for skin moisture
- Toxicity – alcohol-based hand sanitiser is generally considered toxic. If ingested the results can create illness or in extreme cases be fatal (to both humans and pets). It is easy for bag/purse stored sanitiser to seep into food, snacks, and other items. Youngsters and pets have been known to unintentionally drink sanitiser with various adverse effects
Avoid hand sanitiser risks through buying all-natural formulations
Hand sanitiser risks can be avoided through buying all-natural hand sanitisers. The formulation varies, but using our MIST-IFY instant sanitiser as an example you would receive all of the following anti-hazardous benefits:
- Environmentally-friendly – as our sanitiser is all-natural it is safe for the environment
- Non-flammable – our product is entirely non-flammable. Large quantities can be stored without flammability risk
- Non-toxic – our sanitiser is Hypochlorous Acid (HOCl) based. This is an entirely natural substance that is produced by the body to fight invading pathogens. Our sanitiser is so safe it could even be drunk! and
- PH-neutrality – this is especially beneficial to the skin. Apply MIST-IFY across all areas of the body without risk
Related articles
We also recommend reading the following articles, related to this topic:
- Are HOCl sanitisers safe for humans?
- Is hand sanitiser a fire risk?
- Risks associated with hand sanitiser dispenser refilling and
- The benefits of using alcohol-free hand sanitisers
Buy top-quality products from Coler Medical PPE
Move away from alcohol-based sanitisers to entirely-natural instant sanitisers when you buy from Coler Medical PPE. Contact us for further information by calling us at +44 (0) 1827 794 294 or sending emails to info@colermedical-ppe.co.uk. Complete our contact form and we will reply ASAP afterwards.