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Published on: September 5, 2012
Use of Ethanol-Based Hand Disinfectants: Source of Increased Ethyl Glucuronide Levels in Hair?
Clementine Scholz1, Markus R Baumgartner1, Milena M Madry1
1University of Zurich, Zurich Institute of Forensic Medicine, Center for Forensic Hair Analytics, Kurvenstrasse 17, 8006 Zurich, Switzerland.
Aim:
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic increasing the use of hand disinfectants, we investigated the effect of frequent use of ethanol-based hand disinfectants (EBHD) on the levels of the alcohol marker ethyl glucuronide (EtG) in hair.
Method:
Hair samples were collected from 10 health professionals (8 nondrinkers, 2 rarely drinking individuals) and EtG was examined in hair.
Result:
EtG (~2 pg/mg) was only detected in the hair sample of a nondrinker using EBHD 60-70 times per working day.
Conclusion:
Our data provide no evidence that frequent EBHD use results in hair EtG levels above the recommended Society of Hair Testing cutoff for repeated alcohol consumption (5 pg/mg).
