DON’T spray alcohol on your body or clothes, FDA warns after fire incident
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is warning consumers who carry alcohol gel/spray to be careful because it is highly flammable.
The warning came as FDA deputy secretary-general Pharmacist Wirachai Nalawachai was asked about a popular online news site reporting that a young woman caught fire and was seriously injured as she lit a mosquito coil immediately after spraying alcohol on her clothes to keep the Covid-19 virus at bay.
The FDA prohibits the use of alcohol-containing products on the body as all alcohol-based gels or sprays contain a high concentration of alcohol (70%) and must be used with caution.
The use of alcohol, it said, is for your fingers only.
Spray and rub the gel over your fingers for at least 20 seconds and allow it to dry/evaporate before doing other chores, the FDA advised, warning that the alcohol gels or sprays must not be used near an open flame or when someone is smoking or lighting a mosquito coil, for example.
On February 8, a 28-year-old woman used alcohol spray to disinfect her body after coming home from work because she had elderly folks at home. She then used a lighter to light a mosquito coil but the alcohol she had sprayed caught fire and the fire spread across her body. She is currently being treated at Thammasat University Hospital.
