TABLE 1.

Breath and serum alcohol levels before and after intensive use of alcohol-based hand-rub solution

Time and type of specimen	No. of HCWs with detectable alcohol levels/total no. of HCWs
	Ethanol (n = 20)	Isopropanol (n = 19)
Preexposure (baseline)
Breath	0/20	NAa
Serum	0/20	0/19
Postexposure
1-2 min, breath	6/20b	NA
5-7 min, serum	2/20c,d	0/19d
10-13 min, breath	0/20	NA

^aNA, not assessable by Drager Alcotest 7110 breathalyzer.

^bSpecific levels for these six HCWs were 0.0010%, 0.0012%, 0.0014%, 0.0014%, 0.0018%, and 0.0025%.

^cSpecific levels for these two HCWs were 0.0006% and 0.0015%.

^dNo statistical difference between 2/20 versus 0/19 HCWs (P = 0.49, Fisher's exact test).