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The Chemical Composition of Rubbing Alcohol
By Anne Marie
Helmenstine, Ph.D.
One of the types of alcohol
that can be bought over the counter is rubbing alcohol, which is used for
disinfection and may be applied to the skin to produce a cooling effect.
Do you know the chemical
composition of rubbing alcohol?
It is a mixture of denatured alcohol, water, and agents added to
make the alcohol unpalatable to drink. It may also include colorants.
There are two common types of
rubbing alcohol:
· Isopropyl alcohol
· Ethyl alcohol
Isopropyl Alcohol
Most rubbing alcohol is made
from isopropyl alcohol or isopropanol in water.
Isopropyl rubbing alcohol is
commonly found at concentrations from 68% alcohol in water up to 99% alcohol in
water.
The 70% rubbing alcohol is
highly effective as a disinfectant.
Additives make this alcohol
bitter-tasting to try to prevent people from drinking it.
Isopropyl alcohol is toxic, in
part because the body metabolizes it into acetone.
Drinking this alcohol can cause
headaches, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, central nervous system depression,
organ damage, and potentially coma or death.
Ethyl Alcohol
The other type of rubbing
alcohol consists of 97.5% to 100% denatured ethyl alcohol or ethanol with water.
Ethyl alcohol is naturally
less toxic than isopropyl alcohol. It is the alcohol that naturally occurs in
wine, beer, and other alcoholic beverages.
However, the alcohol is
denatured or made undrinkable in rubbing alcohol, both to control its use as an
intoxicant and because the alcohol has not been purified to make it safe to
drink.
In the United States, additives
make it as toxic as isopropyl alcohol.
Rubbing Alcohol in the UK
In the United Kingdom, rubbing
alcohol goes by the name "surgical spirit." The formulation consists
of a mixture of ethyl alcohol and isopropyl alcohol.
Rubbing Alcohol in the US
In the United States, rubbing
alcohol made using ethanol must conform to Formula 23-H,
which specifies it consists of 100 parts by volume of ethyl alcohol, 8 parts by
volume of acetone, and 1.5 parts by volume of methyl isobutyl ketone.
The remainder of the
composition includes water and denaturants and may include colorants and
perfume oils.
Rubbing alcohol made using
isopropanol is regulated to contains at least 355 mg of sucrose octaacetate and
1.40 mg of denatonium benzoate per 100 ml volume.
Isopropyl rubbing alcohol also
contains water, stabilizer, and may contain colorants.
Toxicity
All rubbing alcohol
manufactured in the United States is toxic to ingest or inhale and can
cause excessively dry skin if used often.
If you read the product label,
you'll see there is a warning against most of the common uses of rubbing
alcohol.
All types of rubbing alcohol,
regardless of their country of origin, are flammable.
Formulations closer to 70% are
less likely to catch fire than rubbing alcohol that contains a higher
percentage of alcohol.
Anne
Marie Helmenstine, Ph.D.
Chemistry
Expert
Education
Ph.D.,
Biomedical Sciences, University of Tennessee at Knoxville
B.A.,
Physics and Mathematics, Hastings College
Introduction
Ph.D.
in biomedical sciences from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville - Oak
Ridge National Laboratory.
Science
educator with experience teaching chemistry, biology, astronomy, and
physics at the high school, college, and graduate levels.
ThoughtCo
and About Education chemistry expert since 2001.
Widely-published
graphic artist, responsible for printable periodic tables and other
illustrations used in science.
Experience
Anne
Helmenstine, Ph.D. has covered chemistry for ThoughtCo and About Education
since 2001, and other sciences since 2013. She taught chemistry, biology,
astronomy, and physics at the high school, college, and graduate levels.
She has worked as a research scientist and also abstracting and indexing
diverse scientific literature for the Department of Energy.
In
addition to her work as a science writer, Dr. Helmenstine currently serves as a
scientific consultant, specializing in problems requiring an interdisciplinary
approach. Previously, she worked as a research scientist and college
professor.
Education
Dr.
Helmenstine holds a Ph.D. in biomedical sciences from the University of
Tennessee at Knoxville and a B.A. in physics and mathematics with a minor
in chemistry from Hastings College. In her doctoral work, Dr. Helmenstine
developed ultra-sensitive chemical detection and medical diagnostic tests.
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