this post was submitted on 21 Oct 2025
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[โ€“] pasdechance@jlai.lu 11 points 1 day ago

So many outlets reporting on this, but there is no story here yet.

The ECHA site has more info.

To me it sounds like they are considering reclassification, at which point decisions can be weighed.

[โ€“] ExistingConsumingSpace@midwest.social 19 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Carcinogenic when used externally? That would surprise me, giving how quickly it evaporates. I am a layman, though.

[โ€“] philpo@feddit.org 3 points 22 hours ago

Nah, it does have a major effect - not by using it once or twice,but in some professions you do sanitize your hands multiple times an hour if your unlucky. (And sadly since COVID a lot of cheap hand sanitizer brands started to show up who sometimes use ethanol)

Then the long term influence it has on your skin and the systemic effects accumulate - ethanol,more than some other alternatives, leads to chronic inflammation of the skin and that over years causes both local as well as systemic damage that can lead to cancer. (When I work on the patient facing side of my job I have the joy of sanitizing my hands around every 45min for 12 hours. Even though we have very high quality desinfectants and skin protection productd it takes a toll on ones skin)

[โ€“] Successful_Try543@feddit.org 6 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

I guess, it's probably carcinogenic due to inhaling the evaporating Ethanol steam, not due to the external application itself.

[โ€“] poVoq@slrpnk.net 18 points 1 day ago (1 children)

The article reads like the author doesn't actually know what "ethanol" is ๐Ÿ™„

[โ€“] trollercoaster@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

The article is on Yahoo news, I'm continuously and repeatedly surprised their authors know enough to write at all.

[โ€“] pulsey@feddit.org 5 points 1 day ago (1 children)

They've got AI for this now.

[โ€“] trollercoaster@sh.itjust.works 7 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

But Yahoo "News" could hallucinate insane bullshit before LLMs. They were visionaries of a kind.

Expectation vs. reality - a tale of two unicorns

Wow, a steam powered unicorn!