Experts warn that leaving hand sanitizer in your hot car can cause the disinfectant to EXPLODE

  • Most hand sanitizers are alcohol-based, anywhere from 60 percent to 70 percent, which makes them flammable
  • Because it's flammable, leaving the disinfectant in direct sunlight in a hot car could heat the bottle up and cause it to explode
  • One retired firefighter said vapors from pump bottles are the most dangerous because they can leak and spontaneously combust
  • In the US, there are more than 1.6 million confirmed cases of the virus and more than 95,000 deaths
  • Here’s how to help people impacted by Covid-19

Health experts have encouraged us for months to use hand sanitizer when we're out and about to protect ourselves from the coronavirus pandemic.

But turns out there's a hidden danger in that bottle of disinfectant. If exposed to direct sunlight, it could explode.

The warning comes after Western Lakes Fire District shared a photo showing a burned-out door from the driver's side of a car.

According to to the post, hand sanitizer can ignite inside a vehicle sitting in direct sunlight, which could severely damage your vehicle.

Most hand sanitizers are alcohol-based, anywhere from 60 percent to 70 percent, which makes them flammable  (file image)

Most hand sanitizers are alcohol-based, anywhere from 60 percent to 70 percent, which makes them flammable  (file image)

Because it's flammable, leaving the disinfectant in direct sunlight in a hot car could heat the bottle up and cause it to explode (pictured)

Because it's flammable, leaving the disinfectant in direct sunlight in a hot car could heat the bottle up and cause it to explode (pictured)

'Keeping it in your car during hot weather, exposing it to sun, and particularly being next to open flame while smoking in vehicles or grilling while enjoying this weekend can lead to disaster,' the post read.

'Please respect the possibilities and be fire safe.'

Experts say that most hand sanitizers are alcohol-based, anywhere from 60 percent to 70 percent, which makes them flammable. 

'It's flammable and it's an irritant,' Sherrie Wilson, the first female firefighter-paramedic in the Dallas Rescue Department, told CBS Dallas-Fort Worth

'When it's venting and if it's venting in a small space like a car, and vapor is released, it can explode.' 

Wilson, now retired, told the station that vapors from pump bottles can leak and spontaneously combust. 

'What happens with flammables, is they turn to vapor, and they vaporize into a confined space which was a car,' she said.

'And then if there was any introduction of static electricity and that could simply be somebody getting in and pulling down on a sweater or jacket or anything like that.' 

However, some are skeptical. According to WMTV, hand sanitizer would need to reach a temperature of approximately 300F to combust. 

Vehicles, which can heat up enough to injure - or even kill - humans and animals, don't get much hotter than 160F.  

Experts say that, just to be safe, the best option is to keep the hand sanitizer on you and don't leave it in your car.

In the US, there are more than 1.6 million confirmed cases of the virus and more than 95,000 deaths.