Ethanol and ethyl glucuronide urine concentrations after ethanol-based hand antisepsis with and without permitted alcohol consumption - 31/08/16
, Harald Below, PhD aHighlights |
• | In clinical practice routine, the use of ethanol-based hand rubs generates measurable amounts of ethanol and its metabolites in urine. |
• | This indicates the absorption of ethanol and its subsequent degradation. |
• | Compared to the daily oral intake of alcoholic beverages, fruit juices or using consumer products containing ethanol, the amount of ethanol absorption resulting from repeated applications of ethanol-based hand rubs is negligible. |
• | Use of ethanol-based hand rubs in clinical practice is not comparable with the oral consumption of alcoholic beverages. |
Abstract |
Background |
During hand antisepsis, health care workers (HCWs) are exposed to alcohol by dermal contact and by inhalation. Concerns have been raised that high alcohol absorptions may adversely affect HCWs, particularly certain vulnerable individuals such as pregnant women or individuals with genetic deficiencies of aldehyde dehydrogenase.
Methods |
We investigated the kinetics of HCWs' urinary concentrations of ethanol and its metabolite ethyl glucuronide (EtG) during clinical work with and without previous consumption of alcoholic beverages by HCWs.
Results |
The median ethanol concentration was 0.7 mg/L (interquartile range [IQR], 0.5-1.9 mg/L; maximum, 9.2 mg/L) during abstinence and 12.2 mg/L (IQR, 1.5-139.6 mg/L; maximum, 1,020.1 mg/L) during alcohol consumption. During abstinence, EtG reached concentrations of up to 958 ng/mL. When alcohol consumption was permitted, the median EtG concentration of all samples was 2,593 ng/mL (IQR, 890.8-3,576 ng/mL; maximum, 5,043 ng/mL). Although alcohol consumption was strongly correlated with both EtG and ethanol in urine, no significant correlation for the frequency of alcoholic hand antisepsis was observed in the linear mixed models.
Conclusions |
The use of ethanol-based handrub induces measurable ethanol and EtG concentrations in urine. Compared with consumption of alcoholic beverages or use of consumer products containing ethanol, the amount of ethanol absorption resulting from handrub applications is negligible. In practice, there is no evidence of any harmful effect of using ethanol-based handrubs as much as it is clinically necessary.
Le texte complet de cet article est disponible en PDF.Key Words : Absorption, Alcohol dehydrogenase, Pregnant, Hand hygiene, Alcohol-based handrub
Plan
| EB, SD, HB, and AK contributed equally to this article. |
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| Parts of this work were published in German in the journal Rechtsmedizin. |
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| This study was supported by the German Society of Hospital Hygiene and the Association for Applied Hygiene. |
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| Conflicts of Interest: Financial support was received from Lysoform Dr. Hans Rosemann GmbH, Berlin, Germany. |
Vol 44 - N° 9
P. 999-1003 - septembre 2016 Retour au numéro
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