SCRUBBING UNDER THE INFLUENCE: ALCOHOL-BASED SURGICAL HAND DISINFECTANT INCREASES ESTIMATED BLOOD ALCOHOL LEVEL

Alcohol-based cutaneous disinfectant use is well established in the surgical environment. However, during scrubbing, volatile alcohols are inspired into the pulmonary system. With the recent reduction in the national drink driving limit, even low levels of detected breath alcohol can have legal implications. This study aimed to determine the extent to which passive inhalation of alcohol-based surgical hand disinfectant affects estimated percentage blood alcohol concentration (%BAC) on breathalyser testing.Over a one week period (September 2015), 24 theatre team members (13 surgeons, 6 scrub staff and 5 anaesthetists) were prospectively recruited. The mean cohort age was 43.7 years (50% female). Participants were instructed to scrub for 90 seconds with an alcohol-based hand disinfectant comprising of the active ingredients (per 100g): propan-1-ol 30.0g, propan-2-ol 45.0g and mecetroniumetilsulphate 0.2g. Estimated %BAC was recorded immediately before and after scrubbing, and every five minutes thereafter u...