Hand Sanitizers Vs Plant Growth

Hand Sanitizers: Also called hand antiseptic, handrub, or hand rub, agent applied to the hands for the purpose of removing common pathogens (disease-causing organisms).

Depending on the active ingredient used, hand sanitizers can be classified in to two types: alcohol-based or alcohol-free. Alcohol-based products typically contain between 60 and 95 percent alcohol, usually in the form of ethanol, isopropanol, or n-propanol. At those concentrations, alcohol immediately denatures proteins, effectively neutralizing certain types of microorganisms. Alcohol-free products are generally based on disinfectants, such as benzalkonium chloride (BAC), or on antimicrobial agents, such as triclosan. The activity of disinfectants and antimicrobial agents is both immediate and persistent.

Alcohol based products contains ethanol or ethyl alcohol (C2H5OH), when applied alcohol based sanitizer ethanol gets evaporated and gets reacted with atmospheric hydroxyl radical and produce acetaldehyde which is the primary sink for atmospheric ethanol, thereby potentially contributing to ozone and smog formation including peroxyacetyl nitrate (PAN).

Study demonstrates that the rainwater concentrations of ethanol have risen due to increased production and use of ethanol as a biofuel. As per the current COVID situations, the production of ethanol from individual person is also added to the industrial ethanol pollution. Rainwater and gas phase ethanol concentrations increased approximately fourfold between 2010 and 2017 in Wilmington, NC, USA

Volume-weighted annual average rainwater concentration and standard deviations for ethanol in nM vs. year for rainwater collected in Wilmington, NC, USA. The year 2010 contains summer data only (n = 11). The Mann−Kendall Trend Analysis for these data is significant at p = 0.043; the regression line shown has R = 0.8678 and p < 0.01 for n = 8

Volume-weighted annual average rainwater concentration of ethanol in nM with standard deviations for rainwater collected in Wilmington, NC, USA between 2010 and 2017 vs. billions of km driven by vehicles in North Carolina, USA, per year over the same time frame. For the regression line, R = 0.9517, n = 8 and p < 0.001

Plants: Plants are really important for the planet and for all living things. Plants absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen from their leaves, which humans and other animals need to breathe. Plants help to clean water too.

Ethanol tends to stunt the growth of plants. When ethanol is applied to flowers, scientists note that, when watered with a 5 percent solution of ethanol, plant growth slows. When a 10 percent alcohol solution is applied, the plant becomes stressed and, with a 25 percent alcohol solution, the plant dies.

If 50ml of hand sanitizer contains 63.25% of ethanol and an individual use on average 10ml of hand sanitizer per day which contains 12.65%. The current world population is 7.9 billion and approximately if an individual use 10 ml of ethanol per day then it’s producing 79000 Megaliter in to our atmosphere. 

As per the above mentioned studies, the ethanol concentration in rain water and in air is increasing and studies shows increase in ethanol concentration will effects the plant growth but the current COVID situations tends to increase the usage of individual alcohol based hand sanitizers.

References:

https://www.britannica.com/topic/hand-sanitizer

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41612-018-0059-z#:~:text=The%20production%20of%20ethanol%20through%20distillation%20also%20releases%20ethanol%20to%20the%20atmosphere.&text=Ethanol%20reacts%20with%20hydroxyl%20radical,including%20peroxyacetyl%20nitrate%20(PAN)

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/01140671.1994.9513842#:~:text=Root%20applications%20of%205%25%20ethanol,treatments%20were%20not%20further%20analysed