Recently, there have been reports of hand sanitizer igniting in cars. While it may seem like a minor inconvenience, if this occurs in a car with others present, it can quickly become dangerous. If you’re ever concerned about the safety of your personal belongings in a car, make sure to keep an eye out for any suspicious activity and keep your car clean!
Will Hand Sanitizer Ignite in a Car?
So you’re about to head out for the day, and you think you can safely leave your hand sanitizer in the car. But then you remember that hand sanitizer is a solvent and it might ignite in a car. Is this really a danger you need to worry about?
The short answer is yes, hand sanitizer can actually ignite in a car. This is because most hand sanitizers are made with solvents like alcohol and ethyl acetate. These solvents are highly flammable, and they can easily catch fire when they come into contact with other flammable materials like gasoline or oil.
So if you’re planning on leaving your hand sanitizer in the car, be sure to keep an eye on it. If it starts to smell strange or smoke begins to come out of it, don’t touch it! Instead, just unplug it and let the fire department handle the situation.
What Causes an Ignition From Hand Sanitizer?
Most people know that hand sanitizer can cause an ignition if it comes into contact with a spark. What many people don’t know is how this happens. The sanitizer vaporizes when it comes into contact with the air, and this vaporized liquid is extremely flammable. When the vaporized liquid comes in contact with a spark, the gas molecules join together to create a hot spark. This hot spark can then ignite the liquid sanitizer, causing an engine fire.
How to Prevent an Ignition From Hand Sanitizer
If you’ve ever been in a car with someone using hand sanitizer, you know that it can be quite dangerous. In fact, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, using hand sanitizer is one of the top causes of skin burns in the United States.
There are a few things that you can do to help prevent an ignition from happening while someone is using hand sanitizer. First, be sure to keep the windows up and the air Conditioning on if you’re going to be driving. This will help to keep the car cool and reduce the chances of an ignition happening.
Another thing that you can do is make sure that there is nothing flammable near the car. This means that you should not have any open cans of gasoline or containers of lighter fluid near your car. If you do have any of these items nearby, make sure to store them out of reach of children or adults who are using hand sanitizer.
Finally, be sure to keep a close eye on anyone who is using hand sanitizer in your car. If you see anything suspicious, such as flames or smoke coming from the person’s hands, get them out.
Conclusion
So, you’ve been told that hand sanitizer can actually ignite in a car, right? Well, the answer to this question is a little bit more complicated than that. In short, hand sanitizer can definitely cause an ignition if it comes into contact with spark plugs or other parts of the engine that are highly combustible. However, this is very rare and typically only happens when someone forgot to take off their gloves and put on their seatbelt before starting the car. So basically, unless you’re actively trying to start a fire with your hand sanitizer (which is not something we would recommend!), there’s no need to be concerned about it.