With the Covid-19 outbreak growing more rampant all around the world, we’ve all been trying to be as hygienic as possible. Even young kids are given hand sanitisers to stay clear of the virus. However, this can potentially be really dangerous.
A three-year-old girl from Jakarta suffered severe burns on her face, arm and leg after she walked near a garbage fire near her house while holding a bottle of hand sanitiser.
According to Sin Chew Daily, the incident happened on 4 April and the girl was immediately brought to a nearby hospital for emergency treatment. However, because the hospital specialises in treating Covid-19 cases, the girl was transferred to another hospital for treatment.
Her wounds were dealt with swiftly and she is now recovering.
However, her family isn’t able to pay for the hospital bill of 21 million rupiah (RM5,740) and still has to bring the girl back to the hospital for check ups and wound cleaning. They have since sought to Facebook to ask for donations.
Meanwhile, the girl’s father is currently stuck in Tangerang due to the state lockdown and isn’t able to return home to take care of his children.
According to a study conducted in the US, hand sanitiser is generally composed of approximately 60% ethyl alcohol by volume and is flammable. While usually the alcohol in hand sanitisers evaporate relatively quickly (at least 10 seconds), it being contained in a bottle is much different.
The US Centres of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warns of fire safety when using alcohol-based hand rubs, as its alcohol component readily evaporates into an ignitable vapor at room temperature. However, for proper use, and to minimise the risk of fire, the CDC also states that users should rub their hands until dry, indicating that all flammable alcohol has evaporated.
The poor girl! Hopefully she will be able to recover soon!
