4 ms·
I'm curious, where does the benzene come from? Isn't hand sanitizer just ethanol with scents added, and maybe a gelling agent?
by sargun 3y ago
I'm curious, where does the benzene come from? Isn't hand sanitizer just ethanol with scents added, and maybe a gelling agent?
- thereisnospork 3y agoEducated guess: From its use as an azeotrope breaker in the distillation of ethanol from water. Normally its impossible to achieve greater than ~95% ethanol from an ethanol water mixture, but it is possible to achieve ~100% ethanol from a water/benzene/ethanol mixture[0]. [0]There of course have been methods invented which do not involve benzene.
- NotYourLawyer 3y agoMakes sense. And benzene is fine for ethanol you’re mixing with gasoline.
- lesuorac 3y agoNot a scientist but I mean mixing a toxic chemical with something that you burn around people sounds not fine.
- loeg 3y agoBenzene combusts to carbon dioxide and water, which are both relatively harmless. (Gasoline is also not something you want on your skin.)
- NotYourLawyer 3y agoGasoline already has benzene in it. Adding a tiny bit more with the ethanol doesn’t matter.
- Sunspark 3y agoA pet peeve of mine, I don't use public hand sanitizer because all the cheap stuff (probably the same stuff this article talks about) seems maniacally intent on adding really long-lasting fragrance to it. When I say long lasting, I don't mean an hour, I mean you can still smell the added fragrance the NEXT DAY despite washing your hands multiple times since. That stuff's got to be toxic. Something that has fragrance this long-lasting is not a sanitizer, it's an odorant or perfuming agent. Sanitizer is not supposed to be a product that makes you smell and leave fragrance residues on surfaces. Basic alcohol sanitizer is fine. It evaporates and then that is it.
- NotYourLawyer 3y agoFuel-grade ethanol.