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

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)

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