Hand sanitizers are essential to curb the spread of COVID-19. And so the demand for hand sanitizer now reached an unprecedented level.
However, a study analyzed
260 bottles from 168 brands and found 17% of the samples contained detectable
levels of benzene.
Benzene's toxicity in
humans has been well known in the scientific community for over 120 years. It
is arguably one of the most, if not most, known chemicals that can cause cancer
in humans even at trace levels. The World Health Organization (WHO) states that
human exposure to benzene has been associated with a range of acute and
long-term adverse health effects and diseases, including cancer and
haematological effects. But now people can use much higher volumes of hand
sanitizer daily. Thus even with a low concentration in a bottle, an
individual's total exposure to benzene could be concerningly high.
Actually, the WHO provides a
recommended recipe for hand santizer. An effective hand sanitizer requires only
three main ingredients: isopropyl alcohol (also known as 2-propanol), hydrogen
peroxide, and glycerol. Ethyl alcohol may be used instead of isopropyl alcohol,
but no other types of alcohol, including methanol and 1-propanol, are
acceptable in hand sanitizer because they can be toxic to humans.
If you are concerned about your hand sanitizer, you can use water and plain hand soap instead to wash your hands.
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