The UK's independent fact checking charity 'Full Fact,' is dispelling fears hand sanitiser can start a fire if left in a hot car.
Scores of Facebook posts have spread across the internet claiming hand sanitiser will ignite a fire.
"Hand sanitizer has a fairly low-temperature flash point (Ignition/Flame). Hand sanitizer with 70% alcohol has a flashpoint of 21 deg C. The photo below is from hand sanitizer igniting in a hot vehicle that reached 35 deg C. inside the vehicle."
But Full Fact has ruled otherwise.
"The flammable ingredients in hand sanitiser would need to be at much higher temperatures, over 350°C, to combust without a spark."
Although they do recommend keeping the cleaning solution away from heat sources.
"To be safe, you should store them out of the heat, and away from open flames, sparks and hot surfaces though."
Full Fact has also warned of the dangers of believing everything on the internet.
"We don’t know if the car door in the image was the result of a fire caused by hand sanitiser."
"The picture was first investigated in Brazil by fact checker Estadão in April, and the image does seem to have some Portuguese writing in the background, but they were not able to verify whether the picture really showed the aftermath of a fire caused by hand sanitiser."
This comes in response to the National Health Service (NHS) property services sharing a warning against storing the bottles in cars, a statement they later retracted.
"Remove all alcohol-based hand sanitiser products from vehicles when they are not occupied, do not leave hand sanitiser in un-attended vehicles."
According to iTV, the NHS apologised for confusion.
"This decision to raise awareness across colleagues was made in good faith. It is now our understanding that the risks associated with hand sanitisers in vehicles only become apparent when in contact with a spark."
"We will be issuing a formal alert to our frontline teams to clarify this situation."
The National Fire Chiefs Council (NFFC) also backed up the NHS, stating it does not create a fire risk.
"We want to reassure people that this product will not combust if left in a car - even on the hottest day. For hand sanitiser to cause a fire it would need to come into contact with a spark," NFFC chair, Roy Wilsher said.
