This Covid 'thing' has brought a lot of new words into daily usage, and many of us now feel like experts, 2 months into quarantine. We have quickly learned the jargon:
- social distancing
- hand sanitizer
- rna viruses
- isopropanol
- N95 masks vs surgical vs cloth
- PPE
We are overloaded with information from seemingly diverse sources, and yet accurate information is hard to find. Perhaps obscured.
In my Thai business, Pure Thai Naturals Co Ltd we produce organic, natural wellness & personal care products. Including hand sanitizer. I have to say, I'm appalled at the blind trust people "out there" have in any clear or blue liquid pushed towards them in a plastic pump bottle by someone in uniform.
Our Pure Thai Naturals customers tend to be more health conscious and inquiring than most, and so we have a LOT of FAQs - by email, messenger and through the contact form in our online store - about hand sanitizer. But perhaps some questions are not asked frequently enough. Like this important question a lady asked yesterday:
Could my hand sanitizer be making my dog sick?
Image by Rebecca Schönbrodt-Rühl from Pixabay
Depending on how you ask the question online, mostly the mainstream search engines will bring up a misleading snopes page in the primary search results:
Most of the cheaper and hospital grade commercially available hand sanitizers are made using 70% isopropanol.
What is isopropanol?
Isopropyl alcohol or isopropanol is a colorless liquid with a bitter taste. It is used in the manufacture of acetone and glycerin. It is often used as the solvent in rubbing alcohol, and some antifreeze and windshield wiper fluid. Source.
How is isopropanol made?
It is primarily produced by combining water and propene in a hydration reaction or by hydrogenating acetone. ... Isopropyl alcohol and water form an azeotrope, and simple distillation gives a material that is 87.9% by weight isopropyl alcohol and 12.1% by weight water. Source
What is propene? It's a colourless gas derived as a byproduct from the coal and fossil fuel industries.
Isopropanol is NOT anything we use in our Pure Thai Naturals production process!! We don't even use it for cleaning the floor. Why? Let me share with you 3 extracts from a Safety Data Sheet for isopropanol. What's a Safety Data Sheet? It's a legally required document all manufacturers have to produce for the sale of dangerous goods. They are available on the websites of all companies who produce isopropanol. I deliberately chose an Australian supplier for this article - the rules in Australia are generally softer than Europe, the format is simpler and the Asian documents I can access here, whilst actually being more strict are, unfortunately, not in English. You can view the full document here: https://www.labtech.com.au/msds/9-isopropyl-alcohol/file but let me highlight 3 important points from the 8 page stock-standard document:
So if I buy a drum of isopropanol here in Chiang Mai, Thailand, I am given a copy of the safety data sheet on purchase and there are strict rules about hazchem storage and safety for staff handling it. But the second someone mixes 70% isopropanol with some cheap glycerin and a bit of synthetic fragrance and pops it in an even cheaper (unsafe) plastic pump bottle? Voila! It's apparently safe, according to snopes, at least.
The primary negative effects of isopropanol on people?
Inhaling large amounts of isopropyl alcohol can cause nausea, vomiting, irritation of the nose and mucous membranes, throat irritations, and even difficulty with breathing as coughing can occur making it difficult for you to catch your breath.
Ingesting isopropyl alcohol has an immediate effect on the central nervous system, which controls the involuntary actions of the body, including heartbeat, breathing, and gag reflex. Isopropyl alcohol slows these functions and may shut them down altogether. IPA is so strong that it can induce hypothermia and subsequent cardiac arrest. The blood’s thinning also causes blood sugar levels to fall so sharply that seizures may result. Source
Ok - so probably don't mix the isopropanol with pineapple juice on a bad day in quarantine. 🤣 But the question was about DOGS and isopropanol. Finally, after rephrasing the question to sidestep the auto-snopes-trigger, I plugged THIS question into the search engine:
Is isopropanol safe for animal ingestion?
The Pet Poison Helpline is unequivocal in its position about isopropanol and its risk to your pets:
Isopropyl Alcohol: Ingesting isopropyl alcohol (also called rubbing alcohol and isopropanol) can cause poisoning in pets resulting in symptoms such as drunkenness, , low blood sugar (especially in small and young pets), stomach upset, slow heart rate, low blood pressure, acid/base disturbances in the blood, and difficulty breathing. Rubbing alcohol is twice as toxic a ethanol (the alcohol in beer and wine) to dogs. Source
It all depends how licky your dog is, how much of the product you used and how recently you used it, but it's fair to say that regular, trace doses of isopropanol for your dog (or cat, or even your lover 😆) by licking your hand-sanitized hands is NOT safe and could be making your pet sick.
So WHY are they making and selling hand sanitizer with a primary ingredient that is clearly a proven skin irritant and a poison risk? The depressing answer? It's a dirt cheap bi-product of the fossil fuel industry and the alternative is MUCH harder to get and 10 times the price. How do I know that? Because MY business buys and uses the SAFE, VEGAN, FOOD & LAB grade ethyl alcohol 95. I can confirm it is MUCH more expensive and that's it's made from plant sources.
Handwashing for 30 seconds with a good quality natural soap is the best choice, always. If you MUST use a hand sanitizer (either as a requirement to enter a store or hospital or if you are traveling) it's safest for your pets (and for you!) if you carry your own ethyl-alcohol-95 hand sanitizing product. If that's not possible, PLEASE wash the isopropanol hand sanitizing product OFF with soap and water as soon as possible - before your dog licks you, your lover sucks your fingers or you eat your sandwich.
Yes, we can and do ship our product throughout Thailand with Kerry Express and use DHL internationally - they have their own air fleet and deliveries have been mostly normal. Store Link.
PLEASE THINK, RESEARCH, and Read The Labels.
And keep our furry friends safe from harm.
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