Under Certain Conditions, Alcohol-Based Hand Sanitizers Can Be Flammable
The Claim
Hand sanitizers are flammable.
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Emerging story
Surveillance footage shows a man who had drenched his body with hand sanitizer bursting into flames seconds after being tased by the Police is circulated in the media. The reactions to the disturbing video witnessed a resurfacing of the debate on sanitizers, as some users claimed that hand sanitizers are flammable and able to generate fire even under regular circumstances.
Misbar’s Analysis
The shocking CCTV footage depicts an incident at a police station in the United States that occurred in October of this year. Jason Jones, who had covered himself with hand sanitizer, burst into flames as police tasered him and died six weeks later. The footage was released on Friday by the New York state attorney general as part of the ongoing investigation into the incident that resulted in Jones' death, according to The New York Post.
Following Jones' tragic incident, people began to question the safety of hand sanitizers. On the other hand, experts believe that the possibility of alcohol-based hand sanitizers starting fires in normal circumstances is remote.
Non-alcohol-based hand sanitizers (NABHS) and alcohol-based hand sanitizers (ABHS) are the two broad categories of hand sanitizers (ABHS). According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, alcohol-based hand sanitizers contain flammable ingredients such as ethyl alcohol.
However, the flammable ingredients in hand sanitizer would need to be much hotter, over 350°C, to start a fire without making a spark. According to experts, only alcohol-based sanitizers are flammable, but they can only be ignited if a flame is present. As a result, Misbar considers the circulating claim to be misleading.
