Chapter 7: Disinfectants and antibacterials · Part 2: Alcohols
Ethanol
- Contaminant risk
The worst fact: US poison centres recorded 70,669 hand-sanitiser exposures in children aged 12 or under in 2011–2014, 92% of them alcohol-based. In Victoria, calls about under-5s swallowing topical antiseptics, mainly hand sanitiser, doubled from 435 in 2019 to 882 in 2020. And contaminated sanitiser can kill: in Arizona and New Mexico in 2020, 15 adults who swallowed hand sanitiser containing methanol were admitted to hospital; 4 died and 3 were left with impaired vision.
Why brands use it: it kills bacteria, fungi and many viruses in seconds and evaporates.
Take care if: you have young children, or are near a flame. The US FDA warns that "drinking even a small amount of hand sanitizer can cause alcohol poisoning in children." Rub hands until fully dry before going near heat or sparks. Australia classes it as "Causes serious eye irritation; Highly flammable liquid and vapour".
Comes from: fermenting sugars and starches, or reacting ethylene (from petroleum) with water.
Myth check: "Sanitiser is as good as soap": no. The US CDC says soap and water are better at removing germs like norovirus and C. difficile, and chemicals. Australia's health department says use soap and water wherever possible.
Contaminants: acetaldehyde, methanol and benzene. In FDA testing of about 350 sanitisers from new US makers during the pandemic (with suspect samples tested first), over 63% failed, mostly because acetal and acetaldehyde were above the limit in about 85% of the liquid ethanol samples; 5 had too much methanol and one had benzene. Australia bans hand sanitiser with more than 5% methanol. They're unlikely in a well-made product, but it's a factor you can't see on the label.
Fair to say: the WHO's own hand-rub recipe is 80% ethanol. Life-threatening outcomes were rare and no deaths were reported in the US child data, and in Victoria no child had moderate or severe symptoms.
We use this ingredient. As methylated spirits or denatured ethanol, it's in our Eucalyptus Spray, Multi Purpose Cleaner, Clove & Eucalyptus Mould Spray, Glass Cleaner, Stainless Steel Cleaner, Pet Bedding Laundry Wash, Curtain Mould Shield and Room Spray, where it evaporates as it dries. It's also 72% of our Rinse Free Hand Wash. Keep these away from children and flames.
Correct as of November 2026. What the badges mean
Sources
- Safe Work Australia. Hazardous Chemical Information System (HCIS): classifications for each chemical, and for benzene and benzyl chloride.
- US CDC. Guideline for disinfection and sterilization (2008); Hand sanitizer guidelines (2024).
- WHO. Guide to local production of WHO-recommended handrub formulations (2010).
- HSDB (US National Library of Medicine), via PubChem: manufacturing, toxicity and impurity data.
- Santos C et al. Pediatric exposures to alcohol-based hand sanitizers, 2011–2014. MMWR 2017;66:223.
- Yip L et al. Methanol poisoning from alcohol-based hand sanitizer, Arizona and New Mexico. MMWR 2020;69:1070.
- Norvill A, Elliott RA, Wong A. Antiseptic exposures in children during COVID-19, Victoria. Clin Toxicol 2022;60:745.
The full source list is at the end of Chapter 7.