Could your alcohol-based hand sanitizer be a safety hazard?

New Delhi : The coronavirus pandemic has created a new normal for us and it's very different from what we expected. Face masks and hand sanitizers are a normal part of our everyday life now. No matter where we go or what we do, we always wear a mask and carry a hand sanitizer because it happens to be the only way we can protect ourselves from the deadly and high contagious coronavirus. Sadly COVID-19 has no known cure or vaccine which makes it very difficult to control and contain. But we've all turned to the only safeguard we have to keep us from getting infected.

Researcher says that an alcohol-based hand sanitizer can cleanse our hands and prevent this virus from spreading further and break the chain. We're all doing our best to flatten the curve but did we even take a second to wait and think that an alcohol-based hand sanitizer could also be a potentially dangerous thing to carry around? We all have that little bottle of hand sanitizer in our bag but it could also be the cause of a number of accidents. This life-saver could also be dangerous. We usually keep hand sanitizers everywhere. From our bags to our bathroom, every place has a bottle available to keep our hands clean. But sometimes, it can be a big risk.

Now many of us probably have a hand sanitizer in our cars and in our kitchen as a precautionary measure which is good but it's also important to remember that an alcohol-based hand sanitizer is a fire hazard. When it comes too close to the gas or the fire, it could lead to an accident. Another important thing to understand is that during the day when we leave our car out in the heat with a bottle of hand sanitizer, it could pose a major risk. The heat from the sun tends to heat up the car which can, in turn, heat up the hand sanitizer. This increases the chances of the bottle inflating and maybe even bursting. Another risk is for those who are smokers. Hand sanitizer contains rubbing alcohol or spirit in high quantity and it tends to turn into vapour due to the heat and in such a case if you go back to your car and light a match or a cigarette or even if there's a little spark, it could turn into a major fire and lead to an accident. 

This is why it is very important to use and carry an alcohol-based hand sanitizer with care but if that's not your cup of tea, it's best to find something that is. In a conversation with the Hindustan Times, Vidit Arora, who works for a non-alcoholic virus disinfectant spray manufacturing company, says, “We have provided an Antivirus Disinfectant Spray to a cab aggregator. This spray creates an ultra-thin layer over the surface on which it is used, and it stays there for an entire day thereby helping to avoid any further settlement of virus. At present, it’s being used in cabs to sanitise the seats and surfaces between taking in passengers. This spray can be used for disinfecting multiple surfaces, and can also be used on the skin as an alternative to alcohol-based sanitisers. In fact, it’s also pet-friendly! Since it’s alcohol-free, so there’s no harm to store it in the car.”