Hand sanitizer is awesome – just avoid open flame

Alcohol-based product is flammable until fully dried

Hand sanitizer is a miracle invention.

For varieties that contain 60% or higher alcohol, hand sanitizer kills a broad spectrum of pathogens, including bacteria and viruses, LiveScience reports. And the higher the concentration of alcohol, the faster it works.

In fact, if the alcohol is ethanol, it actually kills three species of bacteria (Escherichia coli, Serratia marcescens and Staphylococcus saprophyticus) better than the traditional “silver bullet” combination of soap and water, LiveScience notes.

Hand sanitizer can be purchased in a variety of sizes, making it portable and easy to drop into a pocket or purse, so that it’s always available.

And if it’s kept in a closed bottle at room temperature, it’s got a fairly long shelf life too.

We also learned this year that, despite rumors to the contrary, it’s highly unlikely to explode in a hot car, which is good information to know here

in Yuma.

But hand sanitizer does have one flaw: in certain circumstances with open flame, it can be highly flammable.

A woman in Texas suffered burns in August after applying hand sanitizer and then lighting a candle. The sanitizer on her hands ignited, and as she tried to put out the flames, the fire spread to the bottle of sanitizer, which exploded. The woman suffered burns to her hands and face, the Today Show reports.

The Today Show spoke to experts who noted that the alcohol in hand sanitizer is in fact highly flammable. And it’s not just the sanitizer that’s a danger. As sanitizer dries, it evaporates into gas, and that too can be flammable, if introduced to an ignition source, such as a lighter, matches or fires.

The key is to give your hands a few minutes to dry before proceeding with using any sort of open flame.

Keep in mind – the best way to kill germs, viruses and bacteria is with soap and water, and a solid scrubbing. Hand sanitizer works, though, when your options are limited and you need a quick cleanup.

But if you are thinking about going to light the barbecue outside, and you just applied hand sanitizer, give your hands a few minutes to dry first!

GREG NASH/POOL VIA AP SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL, D-Conn., uses hand sanitizer during the confirmation hearing for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett on Capitol Hill in Washington last week.