Results
The median of absorbed ethanol after hygienic hand disinfection was 1365 mg (A), 630 mg (B), and 358 mg (C). The proportion of absorbed ethanol was 2.3% (A), 1.1% (B), and 0.9% (C). After surgical hand disinfection, the median of absorbed ethanol was 1067 mg (A), 1542 mg (B), and 477 mg (C). The proportion of absorbed ethanol was 0.7% (A), 1.1% (B), and 0.5% (C). The highest median acetaldehyde concentration after 20 hygienic hand disinfections was 0.57 mg/L (hand-rub C, after 30 min), after 10 surgical hand disinfections 3.99 mg/L (hand-rub A, after 20 minutes).

Conclusion
The overall dermal and pulmonary absorption of ethanol was well below toxic levels in humans and allows the conclusion that the use of the evaluated ethanol-based hand-rubs is safe.


Peer reviewed study, sanitiser has been found safe for used in humans (even with excessive application; these results were taken after 30 applications over the course of 1 hour!). Transdermal drug administration is only effective for a limited number of drugs as the skin provides such an effective barrier. Transdermal administration relies on the molecular structure of the drug being very small. Alcohol/ethanol does have a very small molecular structure and is sometimes used as a 'carrier' for drugs with a slightly larger molecular structure to be administered transdermally BUT transdermal drug delivery relies on prolonged contact with the skin. By the time alcohol from a hand sanitiser could be absorbed into the skin it will have evaporated due to ambient exposure. The time it will take for the sanitiser to evaporate is dependent on both the conditions and the amount of sanitiser used.

It does stink though!