Fire dept: Reminder don't leave hand sanitizer in your car

[Arkansas Granny]

A Wisconsin fire department is warning people about the dangers of leaving hand sanitizer in their vehicles on a hot day.

In a Facebook post showing a burned car door, the Western Lakes Fire District explained the dangers associated with hand sanitizer.

“By its nature, most hand sanitizer is alcohol-based and therefore flammable. Keeping it in your car during hot weather, exposing it to sun causing magnification of light through the bottle, and particularly being next to open flame while smoking in vehicles or grilling while enjoying this weekend can lead to disaster,” the fire department wrote.

https://www.wfla.com/community/health/coronavirus/fire-dept-reminder-dont-leave-hand-sanitizer-in-your-car/amp/?__twitter_impression=true

I had no idea this could happen.

[hlthe2b]

1. Isopropyl alcohol begins to break down, can react with air/oxygen to form explosive peroxides

Isopropyl Alcohol can react with AIR and OXYGEN over time to form unstable peroxides that can explode.

That process is accelerated with sunlight and heat.


I keep an 70% alcohol sanitizing formula in small (1-2 oz) opaque glass spray bottles that I take with me everywhere since commercial hand sanitizer is impossible to find. And, yes, I didn't worry when temps were well below 60- degrees other than making sure the bottle was not exposed to direct sunlight. Now that temps have skyrocketed, I DO make it a point to take the bottle back in the house with me EVERY time.

[PCIntern]

15. Fake science

God wants your car to explode so it does.

Don’t bother me with all this molecule nonsense. If I can’t see it, it doesn’t exist.

[Baclava]

17. Handwashing is a hoax, CDC says so, throw all that crap away

[ProfessorPlum]

19. ethers form peroxides over time

not alcohols

[hlthe2b]

22. NO, not true

SAFETY DATA SHEETIsopropyl Alcohol
http://phoenixproductsco.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Isopropyl-Alcohol-99-2670.pdf
Special Remarks on Explosion Hazards:Secondary alcohols are readily autooxidized in contact with oxygen or air, forming ketones and hydrogen peroxide. It can become potentially explosive. It reacts with oxygen to form dangerously unstable peroxides, which can concentrate and explode during distillation or evaporation. The presence of 2-butanone increases the reaction rate for peroxide formation. Explosive in the form of vapor when exposed to heat or flame. May form explosive mixtures with air. Isopropyl alcohol + phosgene forms isopropyl chloroformate and hydrogen chloride. In the presence of iron salts, thermal decompositon can occur, which in some cases can become explosive. A homogeneous mixture of concentrated peroxides + isopropyl alcohol are capable of detonation by shock or heat. Barium perchlorate + isopropyl alcohol gives the highly explosive alkyl perchlorates.It forms explosive mixtures with trinitormethane and hydrogen peroxide. It produces a violent explosive reaction when heated with aluminum isopropoxide + crotonaldehyde. Mixtures of isopropyl alcohol + nitroform are explosive.

https://www.nj.gov/health/eoh/rtkweb/documents/fs/1076.pdf

Isopropyl Alcohol can react with AIR and OXYGEN over time to form unstable peroxidesthat can explode.Isopropyl Alcoholforms explosive mixtures, when heated, with ALUMINUM.Isopropyl Alcoholis not compatible with OXIDIZING AGENTS (such as PERCHLORATES, PEROXIDES, PERMANGANATES, CHLORATES, NITRATES, CHLORINE, BROMINE and FLUORINE); STRONG ACIDS (such as HYDROCHLORIC, SULFURIC and NITRIC); ACID ANHYDRIDES; ALKALI METALS (such as LITHIUM, SODIUM and POTASSIUM); ALKALINE EARTH METALS (such as BERYLLIUM, MAGNESIUM and CALCIUM); ETHYLENE OXIDE; PHOSGENE; CROTONALDEHYDE; and ISOCYANATES.Store in tightly closed containers in a cool, well-ventilated area away from SUNLIGHT.Sources of ignition, such as smoking and open flames, are prohibited where Isopropyl Alcoholis used, handled, or stored.Metal containers involving the transfer of Isopropyl Alcoholshould be grounded and bonded.Use explosion-proof electrical equipment and fittings wherever Isopropyl Alcoholis used, handled, manufactured, or stored.Use only non-sparking tools and equipment, especially when opening and closing containers of Isopropyl Alcohol

[ProfessorPlum]

33. Huh. Weird. Never heard of that as a chemist of 32 years

Must be pretty slow

[JI7]

2. What if you keep it covered ? Like inside some compartment inside the car ?

[Arkansas Granny]

3. I don't know any more than what I read in the article.

I've never seen this warning before, but more people than ever have hand sanitizer in their vehicles these days.

[ProfessorGAC]

6. See Post 5

[HootieMcBoob]

9. Well...

I've kept a bottle of hand sanitizer in the compartment between the seats in my car for years. Hot weather and cold and never and explosion...knock on wood. Maybe if it was left on the dashboard on a hot day that would be different.

[JI7]

12. I kept a little one in my bag for years and sometimes I left the bag in the car for a long time

including very hot days and nothing happened. These were from bath and body works and before covid 19 and I got it more to clean dirty hands and for the scents rather than to fight viruses . So I don't know what the alcohol content was in them.

I do keep a small one out these days so I can easily use it as soon as I get in the car . But I guess I will stop doing that now .

[Vinca]

4. Glad I read that. It crossed my mind and then I forgot to take it out of my car.

[ProfessorGAC]

5. Just Put It In The Glove Box

Yes, a 70% alcohol system has a low flash point. (Around 55F)
But, a bottle not being focused as through lens won't have an ignition source. The lens effect causes a hot spot in the car, and direct absorption of visible, infrared % uV light will heat of the liquid enough to release alcohol vapors.
Now we have alcohol vapor, air, & an ignition source.
If in the glove box, the direct light absorption goes away, and so does the ignition source.
The autoignition temperature of 70% IPA is around 750F.
It will never get that hot in the car, unless it's already on fire.

[Ford_Prefect]

10. Evidently the Fire Department has a different view of the matter?

[Tactical Peek]

13. Not necessarily. Both views consider the flammability of alcohol etc.

And both views consider the potential 'magnifier' effect of the transparent bottle. One view has the simple solution of keeping the bottle out of direct sunlight in the glove compartment, which obviates the problem the same way taking the bottle in the house does, assuming it is not placed in direct sunlight in the house, i.e. no ignition source. (Which by the way, as stated, would be a problem in hot or freezing weather, to have a bottle in the car that concentrates rays to the point of ignition.)

And I am curious about how efficiently the bottle will focus the sun's rays in this scenario, so I might perform some tests in this regard. The open flame problem, from cigarettes or grilling, is a separate issue. From the linked article:

A fire official said the image they shared was taken in Brazil after hand sanitizer contacted open flame. The department is encouraging people “to simply be careful and realize that a product we all use very frequently can be dangerous if it contacts open flame of any kind, but specifically cigarettes or those from grills.”

I will change my tune upon seeing a pic of a car burned out by a hand sanitizer fire, or by lighting up a kleenex with a clear plastic bottle maybe later today.

[ProfessorGAC]

21. There Was An Incident Last Year

Caused by a water bottle that did what's suggested.
I don't recall the car was destroyed, but there was no alcohol vapor cloud.
I think this is prudent advice. Cannot hurt.

[ProfessorGAC]

20. Not At All

There worried about the bottle focusing the light causing smoldering on fabric or plastic. That's the ignition source, and physically impossible in the glove box.
What I provided at prevention is completely consistent with their concern.

[intheflow]

16. Exactly. I had some in my glove compartment for a decade.

It got towed away when my car was totaled in a hit and run. (While parked on a street.) During that time I lived in Mississippi and Colorado. My car never exploded once.

[safeinOhio]

7. Another example of the power of sunlight.

A few years ago a neighbor had a fire in his yard that burned down a shed. The Fireman told him it was started by some broken glass next to the shed, mostly old bottles. He said the curved glass from the bottles acted like a magnifying glass to start the grass and weeds on fire that spread.

[betsuni]

8. Last year I bought new dark colored curtains for a window with full sunlight all day

during the winter. Went to take them down last month and found large steaks bleached completely white. The power of sunlight!

[Liberal In Texas]

11. Gee and I just thought it would cause the alcohol to evaporate and not be effective. n/t

[obamanut2012]

14. I have been for years and years

And, live in SOFL. Maybe because I leave it in my glovebox.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

18. Yikes

I keep a small bottle in my car pretty much year round in a holder on my car door and haven't had any issues but then again it's not in direct sunlight. May re-think it.

[tavernier]

23. Just throw a folded kitchen towel over it.

I keep mine in my cupholder because it’s so convenient to reach when I get into the car from being out in the world.
It does get hot in the car since I live in the tropics, but with something over the top of it, it won’t get direct sun light.

[peacebuzzard]

24. thanks for post, will remove anti-virus kit from my car.

I have thought of this before, but now I'll go into action.

[Arkansas Granny]

26. From the article and other comments here, it seems the danger is

from sunlight being magnified by the bottles, not the heat. If the sanitizer is kept out of sunlight it can't get hot enough to combust.

[peacebuzzard]

28. I will have to think of the logistics involved with my kit.

I have been keeping both sanitizer and alcohol in my kit on the front passenger seat. For use when I come back from the
stores, but now in light of this fire-potential factor, I will have to rearrange my disinfection kit.
Where I am located, the temperatures are just now starting to warm up. I think today will be the first time this year it is going to be in the mid-80s.

So now, along with everything else that is in my anti-virus disinfection routine when I go out into the community, I will certainly be careful where I place the bottles of alcohol and hand-sanitizer. In my community, the re-opening procedures are in full force. Now is the time to be more vigilant than ever. I really appreciate this useful heads-up, Arkansas Granny.

[Polybius]

25. I've been keeping it in my car since hand sanitizer became mainstream

Here in NYC, temperatures can range from about 10 degrees in January to 100 in July. Never had a problem and I'm not stopping now, especially in these times where I always need it to be there. I keep it in the glove box year-round.

[GulfCoast66]

27. I keep an 8oz spray bottle of 151 Everclear in my truck.

In a drink holder lower down in the drivers side door.

Sun never hits it and it opaque plastic. Not worried.

[peacebuzzard]

29. What is Everclear? alcohol?

I can't find sanitizer or alcohol anywhere when I do my infrequent shopping runs. Alcohol is not available as far as I can see on the store delivery sites.

[GulfCoast66]

30. 151 proof booze. Like super strong vodka. It 75% alcohol so a great disinfectant.

I buy it at ABC liquor. 1.75 liters for around 25 bucks. And there is plenty on the shelf.

Early on I could not find sanitizer and immediately thought of using Everclear.

I even put a little peppermint extract in it to add a nice scent.

[peacebuzzard]

31. I have heard of this as an alternative for pharmacy alcohol.

I think I will check the local liquor stores, I am thankful for the information.
I prefer alcohol over the other products for surface disinfection.
I understand that repetitive alcohol on the skin is not recommended like a hand-sanitizer. But for surface cleaning it is more powerful and will kill everything.
I use pharmacy alcohol now for communal areas, shopping carts, elevator buttons, fast cleaning of areas that other people have handled. I like the idea of a spray bottle. That would be ideal for spot cleaning. Thanks! (My alcohol supply is low and I just can't find it, but this works.)

[GulfCoast66]

32. Glad I could help. I spray down my hands after going into a store and before removing my mask

Does not seem to be bothering my hands. I added a tad bit of aloe but you have to make sure you keep the alcohol over 60%.