Purell is an instant hand sanitizer made of ethyl alcohol which claims to kill "99.99%" of most common germs that may cause illness in as little as 15 seconds. Its active ingredient

Active ingredient

An active ingredient is the substance of a pharmaceutical drug or a pharmaceutical ingredient and bulk active in medicine; in pesticide formulations active substance may be used. Some medications and pesticide products may contain more than one active ingredient...

 is ethanol

Ethanol

Ethanol, also called ethyl alcohol, pure alcohol, grain alcohol, or drinking alcohol, is a volatile, flammable, colorless liquid. It is a psychoactive drug and one of the oldest recreational drugs. Best known as the type of alcohol found in alcoholic beverages, it is also used in thermometers, as a...

 (63% w/w). It is used by wetting one's hands thoroughly with the product, then briskly rubbing one's hands together until dry. The brand is owned by Gojo Industries

Gojo Industries

GOJO Industries, Inc., is a manufacturer of hand hygiene and skin care products. Its best known product is Purell instant hand sanitizer. The company was founded in 1946 in Akron, Ohio, where is again headquartered after a period in Cuyahoga Falls...

. Purell was introduced to the market in 1996. PURELL® Green Certified Instant Hand Sanitizer is the first hand sanitizer to meet EcoLogo™ CCD-170 standards.

Ownership and distribution

Pfizer

Pfizer

Pfizer, Inc. is an American multinational pharmaceutical corporation. The company is based in New York City, New York with its research headquarters in Groton, Connecticut, United States...

 acquired the exclusive rights to distribute Purell in the consumer market from GOJO Industries

Gojo Industries

GOJO Industries, Inc., is a manufacturer of hand hygiene and skin care products. Its best known product is Purell instant hand sanitizer. The company was founded in 1946 in Akron, Ohio, where is again headquartered after a period in Cuyahoga Falls...

 in 2004, and on June 26, 2006, Johnson & Johnson

Johnson & Johnson

Johnson & Johnson is an American multinational pharmaceutical, medical devices and consumer packaged goods manufacturer founded in 1886. Its common stock is a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the company is listed among the Fortune 500....

 announced its acquisition of the Pfizer Consumer Healthcare division, which includes the Purell brand. In 2010, GOJO bought the brand back from Johnson & Johnson.

Health risks

The Chicago Tribune

Chicago Tribune

The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...

reported that children have become inebriated by ingesting Purell. One child's ingestion of the hand sanitizer caused her blood alcohol level to reach 0.218; Purell contains 63% ethyl alcohol, while other hand sanitizers contain isopropanol which would likely have been fatal in the same dose. The product packaging recommends that the product be "kept out of the reach of children".

The product is flammable

Flammability

Flammability is defined as how easily something will burn or ignite, causing fire or combustion. The degree of difficulty required to cause the combustion of a substance is quantified through fire testing. Internationally, a variety of test protocols exist to quantify flammability...

 and may discolor fabrics, which are all mentioned in the product label. Besides ethyl alcohol it contains water, isopropyl alcohol

Isopropyl alcohol

Isopropyl alcohol is a common name for a chemical compound with the molecular formula C3H8O. It is a colorless, flammable chemical compound with a strong odor...

, glycerin

Glycerol

Glycerol is a simple polyol compound. It is a colorless, odorless, viscous liquid that is widely used in pharmaceutical formulations. Glycerol has three hydroxyl groups that are responsible for its solubility in water and its hygroscopic nature. The glycerol backbone is central to all lipids...

, carbomer

Carbomer

In organic chemistry, a carbomer is an expanded molecule obtained by insertion of a C2 unit in a given molecule. Carbomers differ from their templates in size but not in symmetry when each C–C single bond is replaced by at least one alkyne bond, and when a double bond is replaced by an allene bond...

, fragrance, aminomethyl propanol, propylene glycol

Propylene glycol

Propylene glycol, also called 1,2-propanediol or propane-1,2-diol, is an organic compound with formula C3H8O2 or HO-CH2-CHOH-CH3...

, isopropyl myristate

Isopropyl myristate

Isopropyl myristate is the ester of isopropanol and myristic acid.-Uses:Isopropyl myristate is used in cosmetic and topical medicinal preparations where good absorption through the skin is desired...

, and tocopheryl acetate

Tocopheryl acetate

Tocopheryl acetate, also known as vitamin E acetate, is a common vitamin supplement with the molecular formula C31H52O3 . It is the ester of acetic acid and tocopherol . It is often used in dermatological products such as skin creams...

.

Alcohol based hand sanitisers are poor at killing viruses. ABC News reported: "Water removed 96 percent of the virus; liquid antibacterial soap removed 88 percent; and the hand sanitizer removed only 46 percent."