Toxicity of Rubbing Alcohol

[Tryptala]

My question is about Rubbing Alcohol toxicity. I am an artist who uses rubbing alcohol constantly to wipe away ink, so my fingertips often have repeated and extended contact with the rubbing alcohol. Should I be concerned and take precautions about skin absorption? I've been doing this artform daily my entire adult life. I've also suffered from depression my entire adult life and am currently on an anti-depressant. Do you think that the rubbing alcohol could be contributing to my depression? I don't drink alcoholic beverages very often at all. And lastly, out of the two different rubbing alcohols available--isopropyl and ethyl--which would be the safer for me to use. Thanks!

[Purple98Lady]

Here are some links regarding: I'm not a Dr. to decide wether your depression is caused by the alcohol you use to clean brushes etc. I would say to use in a ventilated area. This is a good question to discuss with your physician.


http://www.sciencelab.com/msds.php?msdsId=9924412

http://www.med-chem.com/MSDS/175E.pdf

http://www.answers.com/topic/rubbing-alcohol

[Tryptala]

Thanks for your reply. I'm finding it an interesting topic because of the elusiveness of a clear answer to my questions in the material I'm reading online, including what you've linked to. According to Wikipedia, Rubbing Alcohol is defined by the U.S. Pharmacopeia as a mixture of ethyl alcohol and water. When I smell the ethyl rubbing alcohol, it reminds me of the smell of the doctor's office when I was a child, long long ago. I guess that's the acetone and denatorium benzoate they add to the ethyl alcohol to make it poisonous and keep people from ingesting it. It sounds like the ethyl version was the original rubbing alcohol and somewhere along the line it got replaced--overwhelmingly--by isopropyl alcohol. I wonder why that happened? You can't even find the ethyl version anymore in most stores, but they will have shelves full of isopropyl. I'm betting the reason is that isopropyl is probably much cheaper to make. For one thing, it doesn't require any other ingredients to be sold legally. Isopropyl rubbing alcohol is simply a mixture with water.

Both alcohols are absorbed through the skin, but also according to Wikipedia, isopropyl alcohol is twice as toxic as ethyl alcohol. Ethyl alcohol is the chosen main ingredient in hand sanitizers. This is all leading me to conclude that I should be using ethyl rubbing alcohol instead of isopropyl. Of course, it's isopropyl that I've been using in my work for the past thirty years.

I will ask my psychiatrist about it, but I don't expect he'll have much of an answer since, like I say, the literature appears rather elusive on the subject of rubbing alcohol toxicity, and I'm guessing that that's because of the prevalence, and widespread dependence now on isopropyl alcohol. It's for topical application, but some warn that protective gloves should be worn when handling, so it all just doesn't jive. I don't care for the smell of ethyl rubbing alcohol, and am not overjoyed by its having acetone in it as well, so maybe I should just dump both rubbing alcohols and start using Vodka instead. I don't see any bartenders wearing gloves.

[Purple98Lady]

hahahahahah nicely put.:wink:

[juiveal09]

Alcohol IS a complex sugar. And when you think of the chemical composition of it, the cravings make perfect sense...

[rrb]

Tryptala-

Like you I have had difficulty finding a straight answer on possible hazzards/symptoms of chronic exposure to Isopropyl alcohol ("IPA").

I have been experiencing some mild but concerning symptoms ranging from mild lip numbness to whole mouth and partial face numbness. This has been going on unexplained for several months.

I have linked the response to a number of triggers including hand sanitizer, cologne, aftershave, antibacterial soap, and IPA. The symptoms occur imediatly following transfer through incidental contact from hand to mouth, or 30-40 minutes after inhalation or absorption. At first it was hard to figure out the triggers because of the time lag in symptoms and frequency of occurence with no aparent single cause..... Then it occured to me that IPA, or some other form of alcohol, is a common ingredient in all of the offending products.

In my career, in a laboratory environment, I have had frequent contact and some incedents prolonged exposure with IPA through skin and respiratory exposure. I am beginning to wonder if there is some kind of built up intolerance that develops over time.

I am interested to hear if you learn more about this topic.

Ohh BTW, I am a regular (not excessive) consumer of ethyl alcohol with no apparent adverse effects. And everything I've read seems to indicate that your body pretty well knows what to do with ethyl alcohol.... So your safest bet is probably to switch to vodka if you are concerned about IPA.