NEW DELHI: A man from Haryana suffered 35 per cent burn injuries when he accidentally came in contact with fire in his kitchen while cleaning household items with an alcohol-based hand sanitiser, doctors said. The 44-year-old man from Rewari was brought to the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital here on Sunday night after the incident.
According to Mahesh Mangal, Chairman, Department of Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery, “Although hand sanitiser is essential, we strongly advise that alcohol-based sanitiser must be used very carefully.”
“The high ethyl alcohol content in the product -- up to 62 per cent in some cases -- makes hand sanitiser highly inflammable and prone to lead to burns. One should never use sanitiser near the fire area or any heating place. It should be used in sufficient quantity and allowed to dry,” he added.
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The patient had come in contact with the fire while cleaning his household things like keys and mobile phone.“He was in the kitchen area while at the same time his wife was cooking the food in the kitchen. Suddenly, he spilt some sanitiser on his Kurta. The fumes from sanitizer reached the cooking gas and before anybody could react, within moments his Kurta caught fire,” said his wife.
The patient suffered burn injuries on his face, neck, front of chest, abdomen and both hands. The man is being treated in the department of plastic and cosmetic surgery and his condition is “stable”, the hospital authorities said.
Spike in demand for hand sanitisers
Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, health experts have recommended hand sanitising as one of the top precautionary measures across the world. Hence, the demand for hand sanitisers have grown significantly.