Assessment of Exposure to Alcohol Vapor from Alcohol-Based Hand Rubs

Abstract

This study assessed the inhaled dose of alcohol during hand disinfection. Experiments were conducted with two types of hand rub using two hand disinfection procedures. Air samples were collected every 10 s from the breathing zone, by bubbling through a mixture of K2Cr2O7 and H2SO4. The reduction of dichromate ions in the presence of alcohols was followed by UV-vis spectrophotometry. The difference in intensity of the dichromate absorption peak was used to quantify the alcohol concentration expressed in ethanol equivalent. During hygienic hand disinfection, the mean ethanol equivalent concentrations peaked at around 20–30 s for both hand rubs (14.3 ± 1.4 mg/L for hand rub 1 and 13.2 ± 0.7 mg/L for hand rub 2). During surgical hand disinfection, two peaks were found at the same time (40 and 80 s) for both hand rubs. The highest mean concentrations were 20.2 ± 0.9 mg/L for hand rub 1 and 18.1 ± 0.9 mg/L for hand rub 2. For hand rub 1, the total absorbed doses, calculated from ethanol with an inhalation flow of 24 L/min and an absorption rate of 62%, were 46.5 mg after one hygienic hand disinfection and 203.9 mg after one surgical hand disinfection. Although the use of ABHRs leads to the absorption of very low doses, sudden, repeated inhalation of high alcohol concentrations raises the question of possible adverse health effects.

The Effect of Alcohol‐Based Hand Sanitizer Vapors on Evidential Breath Alcohol Test Results

“…However, while positive breath alcohol results were obtained on each instrument, the breath tests resulted in many more status codes and subsequently invalidated tests than positive alcohol concentrations. Our results reaffirm the results obtained by Bessonneau and Thomas on the amount of alcohol released into the room air immediately in the vicinity of the hands after the application of ABHS (10). Resulting alcohol vapor levels in the ambient air were substantial and responsible for creating a mouth alcohol effect on several subjects as well as contaminating the room air which led to many additional status codes.…”

Rapid and Selective NH3 Sensing by Porous CuBr

“…In fact, the selectivity to hydrogen and acetone is ≈60, but both can reach exhaled breath concentrations of tens of ppm (e.g., acetone during ketogenic diet32 or H 2 in case of carbohydrate intolerance33). Also ethanol (selectivity ≈40) may be present at high ppm concentrations in the background of hospital air from disinfectants or cleaning agents 34. However, this can be improved by combining the CuBr sensor with microporous membranes35 or sorption columns (e.g., packed beds of activated ceramics36 or polymers37) that can remove critical confounders.…”

Antibacterial Efficacy of Several Surgical Hand Preparation Products Used by Veterinary Students

“…Nonetheless, this additional bacterial reduction was only observed at the end of surgery and the evaluation of possible clinical benefits would require more research. Although ABR are regarded as relatively safe products, potential disadvantages for using an increased amount may include dermal and respiratory absorption of alcohol, irritation to the respiratory tract, and possible fire hazard …”