Hand Sanitizer warning

[gingersmom]

I am really lax about using hand sanitizer but with all the news reports it reminded me I needed to get some and put in my purse. Then I saw this.....

 

http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/sanitizer.asp

 

Claim: Ingestion of hand sanitizer by children can result in alcohol poisoning.

 

 

TRUE

 

Examples:

 

[Collected via e-mail, January 2007]

 

Hi All-

 

Just wanted to send you a quick email and warn you about using hand sanitizers wtih your young kids. We have been using that with Sydney in place of hand washing for convience sake. Today she told me she was going up to her room to get a toy, while I was downstairs feeding Griffin, and after taking longer then it should I called for her. When she didn't answer I knew she was up to something and the bathroom door was closed. She got into the hand sanitizer and had ingested some of it. There wasn't a large amount missing from the bottle but I could smell it on her breath.

 

Within approx. 10 min. she was all glassy eyed and wobbly in her feet. As the minutes passed, she continued to get worse and got to the point where she couldn't even stand up or walk, it was awful!!

 

I called poison control immediately and they told me to take her to the ER right away due to the alcohol level in hand sanitizers. As we were driving there her speech became slurred and harder to understand and her eyes looked awful. They admitted her and did urine and blood tests and it turns out that her blood alcohol level was .10 — which is legally drunk. It turns out that the hand sanitizers (Purell) have 62% alcohol in them and the dr. compared it to her drinking something that is 120 proof.

 

We had a VERY scary afternoon but thankfully she is ok. We were in the ER until this evening, after spending the whole afternoon there, so they could monitor her and make sure her blood sugars were stable. They said that someone her size would only need to have 3 squirts of it to get to the point of being .10 blood level.

 

She has always wanted to lick her hands after we use it and we have warned her that it is dangerous and something that kids can't do or they will end up in the hospital. Needless to say, we are going to go back to washing hands with soap and water because it is way to risky and scary to use this stuff seeing how little a child needs to be affected by it. We asked about long term affected with the liver, brain, etc and the dr. said we have nothing to worry about but we need to get rid of all the hand sanitizer in the house.

 

Just wanted to let you all know so you can learn from our lesson and not have to go through something as scary as this...

 

 

[Collected via e-mail, May 2007]

 

Ok. I don't know where to begin because the last 2 days of my life have been such a blur. Yesterday, My youngest daughter Halle who is 4, was rushed to the emergancy room by her father for being severely lethargic and incoherent. He was called to her school by the school secretary for being "very VERY sick." He told me that when he arrived that Halle was barely sitting in the chair. She couldn't hold her own head up and when he looked into her eyes, she couldn't focus them.

 

He immediately called me after he scooped her up and rushed her to the ER. When we got there, they ran blood test after blood test and did x-rays, every test imaginable. Her white blood cell count was normal, nothing was out of the ordinary. The ER doctor told us that he had done everything that he could do so he was sending her to Saint Francis for further test. Right when we were leaving in the ambulance, her teacher had come to the ER and after questioning Halle's classmates, we found out that she had licked hand sanitizer off her hand. Hand sanitizer, of all things.

 

But it makes sense. These days they have all kinds of differents scents and when you have a curious child, they are going to put all kinds of things in their mouths. When we arrived at Saint Francis, we told the ER doctor there to check her blood alcohol level, which, yes we did get weird looks from it but they did it. The results were her blood alcohol level was 85% and this was 6 hours after we first took her. Theres no telling what it would have been if we would have tested it at the first ER. Since then, her school and a few surrounding schools have taken this out of the classrooms of all the lower grade classes but whats to stop middle and high schoolers too? After doing research off the internet, we have found out that it only takes 3 squirts of the stuff to be fatal in a toddler. For her blood alcohol level to be so high was to compare someone her size to drinking something 120 proof. So please PLEASE don't disregard this because I don't ever want anyone to go thru what my family and I have gone thru. Today was a little better but not much. Please send this to everyone you know that has children or are having children. It doesn't matter what age. I just want people to know the dangers of this.

 

Thank you Lacey Butler and family

 

 

Origins: The first alert quoted above (which began circulating via e-mail in mid-January 2007) was written by Jennifer Moe, the mother of a 2-year-old girl who had ingested some hand sanitizer. The second example (May 2007) was written by Lacey Butler, the mother of a 4-year-old girl who had done the same; although it contains some errors of fact or transcription (e.g., a "blood alcohol level [measured at] 85%"), it is a true tale in the sense that 4-year-old Halle Butler, a pre-kindergarten student at Okmulgee Primary School in Okmulgee, Oklahoma, was treated at an area hospital after eating a small amount of hand sanitizer squirted into her palm by a teacher.

 

While the stories as related in the e-mailed accounts fortunately did not result in death or serious injury, they are cautionary tales worth heeding because they present a scenario that can all too easily be repeated in other households, schools, or daycare centers with small children. Hand sanitizer gels and wipes include a surprising amount of alcohol (e.g., Purell and Germ-X contain 62% Ethyl Alcohol), and a child who swallowed enough of such products could experience what 2-year-old Sydney and 4-year-old Halle went through: intoxication, possibly even alcohol poisoning. "Ingesting as little as an ounce or two of this product could be fatal to a toddler," says Heidi Kuhl, a health educator at the Central New York Poison Control Center. (Other medical technicians maintain that a child would have to ingest considerably more sanitizer than is typically used in a single application in order for alcohol toxicity to be a likely result.)

 

Bottles of topical anti-bacterials do carry explicit warnings about the danger they pose (e.g., bottles of Purell hand sanitizer caution: "Keep out of reach of children. If swallowed, get medical help or contact a Poison Control Center right away.") However, unlike cleaning supplies and numerous other products commonly used in the home,

 

hand sanitizer isn't generally thought of as something that presents a poisoning danger to children — folks unthinkingly tend to regard it the way they do hand lotion, as something that can be safely left on a counter or nightstand. Yet such products shouldn't be left within easy reach, not if one has a small child about. While one might think the taste of the product (which in Purell's case is akin to a slightly flowery version of vodka) would keep children from swallowing too much of it, kids can and do get into the darnest things.

 

More than half the calls received by most poison centers across the country involve children under the age of six. Usually the reported poisoning incidents result in mild or no symptoms, but many carry the potential for severe injury or even death. Parents and caregivers therefore have to be vigilant about reading product labels to determine what items need to be kept well out of reach of tiny hands.

 

Youngsters are especially at risk of ingesting poisons from ordinary household products due to four factors, notes a 1992 Clinical Pediatrics article:

Children are naturally curious about most everything, including the taste, smell, and texture of products.

Children learn about the world through smelling, touching, and tasting. Brightly colored liquids, spray containers, pills, and leafy or flowering plants are all attractive lures to children, who may attempt to learn more about them through spraying, smelling, or swallowing. The mechanics of spray containers are of particular interest to many curious children.

Children lack the experience and knowledge to distinguish poisons and other non-potables from harmless substances. Children can think that fuels, cough syrup, and shampoo are safe to drink because they resemble beverages such as fruit punch or soft drinks. Children may also find the appearance, taste, or odor of a dangerous substance similar to that of a consumable product: medicine tablets look and taste like candy, anti-freeze tastes sweet, red mouthwash looks like fruit punch, etc.

Children imitate the behavior of adults and frequently mimic what they see their parents or grandparents do, such as taking medication, drinking colored liquids, cleaning house, and spraying chemicals.

Although the warning's author argues for the outright ban of hand sanitizer from any home where small children reside, it needs be kept in mind that a 2005 study of 292 families by Children's Hospital Boston (in which one-half of the subjects got hand sanitizers, while the other half received literature advising them to wash their hands frequently) found that those who used hand sanitizer gels experienced a 59% reduction in gastrointestinal illnesses, and that increased use of sanitizers corresponded with a decreased spread of contagions (including those resulting in respiratory illnesses).

 

Barbara "germ warfare" Mikkelson

 

Last updated: 24 February 2009

[LaxMom]

Yeah, it's not the amount of alcohol so much as it is that it is isopropyl and not ethyl alcohol and, thus, toxic.

 

I tend to carry (if we will be in a situation where handwashing facilities are unavailable) a little spray bottle with vodka and some antimicrobial essential oils (tea tree, oregano, lavender). I'd be more concerned about the essential oils than the alcohol if my kids drank that, though I don't really use more than a drop of each and they would be unlikely to drink the whole 2 oz bottle.

[Jumping In Puddles]

Yeah, it's not the amount of alcohol so much as it is that it is isopropyl and not ethyl alcohol and, thus, toxic.

 

I tend to carry (if we will be in a situation where handwashing facilities are unavailable) a little spray bottle with vodka and some antimicrobial essential oils (tea tree, oregano, lavender). I'd be more concerned about the essential oils than the alcohol if my kids drank that, though I don't really use more than a drop of each and they would be unlikely to drink the whole 2 oz bottle.

 

how do you make that? Do you use a drop of all the essential oils in how much vodka?

[Blessedfamily]

I carry the wipes for rare use. I wonder how much alcohol they get on their hands from them?

[Sebastian (a lady)]

I tend to carry (if we will be in a situation where handwashing facilities are unavailable) a little spray bottle with vodka and some antimicrobial essential oils (tea tree, oregano, lavender).

 

I might be tempted to take a nip here and there. But we'd be very sanitary.

[LaxMom]

Uh, I wouldn't put it in a hip flask; essential oils are also toxic if ingested (though probably not in such dilution). I do use an usnea tincture throat spray, though.

 

(Have I mentioned I'm an herbalist? That may explain my sometimes odd approaches to such things. :D)

 

I use a 2 oz stainless bottle with a spray top (I think I bought it at Whole Foods - a glass one would also work fine), fill it to just below the neck with 100 proof vodka and add a drop of tea tree, oregano and lavender essential oils. The oils are volatile and seem to disperse well in the oil, but you could add a drop of soap to make sure they emulsify, too. I just shake it before I spray.

 

I would think any alcohol from the wipes would evaporate almost immediately. They're not exceptionally wet to begin with, you know?

[Free Indeed]

Very cool recipe! Thank you for sharing. :001_smile:

[Laurie4b]

Snopes is misleading on this. I have written them about this and they don't care.

 

Call your local poison control. I did. They said the average 2 year old would have to consume 2 teaspoons of the hand sanitizer before getting alchohol poisoning. (Ethyl alcohol, which is what the sanitizers are made from is processed by the body very similarly to the kind of alcohol we drink.) I don't need a full teaspoon for my adult hands. When I put hand sanitizer on little hands, it's about 1/2 tsp.

 

When I read the woman at poision control the contention that a young child had gotten alcohol poisoning by licking the residue on her hands, she said, "No way." What snopes confirmed was that this child got alcohol poisoning. How much hand sanitizer was guessed (that it was from licking residue) not confirmed.

 

So you can keep using your hand sanitizer, just make sure you keep it out of reach of a young child, and that you don't squirt on an excessive amount, and that the child rubs it in. You're good to go.

 

It's very unfortunate that snopes perpetuates this misleading story.

[Laurie4b]

Yeah, it's not the amount of alcohol so much as it is that it is isopropyl and not ethyl alcohol and, thus, toxic.

 

I tend to carry (if we will be in a situation where handwashing facilities are unavailable) a little spray bottle with vodka and some antimicrobial essential oils (tea tree, oregano, lavender). I'd be more concerned about the essential oils than the alcohol if my kids drank that, though I don't really use more than a drop of each and they would be unlikely to drink the whole 2 oz bottle.

 

The hand sanitizers that we use from Germ-x to Purell use ethyl.

[Elohcin]

I don't really believe this. We use sanitizer all the time and the only thing I have noticed is we get far fewer stomach bugs in the winter than everyone else and colds too. Besides it tastes terrible.

 

I am one who believes in dirt, but I do like clean hands.

[LaxMom]

The hand sanitizers that we use from Germ-x to Purell use ethyl.

Interesting. I see that in their product info. I know they used to not be ETOH; maybe they changed formulation because of ingestion issues?

 

Here's a question: Purell is ETOH 65% by volume... uh, what's in the other 35%?? Any idea, anyone? :confused: Because, really, if your kid ingests a little ETOH, there is really no reason to contact poison control (obviously, if they drink a lot, you should head to the ER, but...), so I'm sort of wondering what creepy stuff is not listed because it's not the "active". (I assume it's something to do with the gelling?)

 

My kids ingest small amounts of alcohol; tinctures are made with it and even glycerites and syrups are preserved by adding a little.

[hornblower]

Here's a question: Purell is ETOH 65% by volume... uh, what's in the other 35%?? Any idea, anyone? :confused:

 

Off my Canadian bottle of Purell (Green gel, Aloe variety)

 

Medicinal Ingredient: Ethyl Alcohol 62%

 

Non-medicinal Ingredients: Alobe Barbadensis leaf juice, aminomenthyl propanol, carbomer, FD&C Blue #1, FC&C Yellow #5, fragrance, glycerin, isopropyl alcohol, isopropyl myristate, propylene glycol, tocopheryl acetate (vitamin E acetate), water.

[lovinmykids]

This is a true story!

You have to remember that hand sanitizer is made with alcohol so if these kids are putting it on there hands alot, it is actually absorbing into there skin and into their bloodstream.

I am very hesitant to using it because of this. I think we all just need to tell our kids to wash their hands with soap (not anti-bacterial soap which kills something on your skin that we need to fight getting sick) alot and keep their fingers away from their mouths. That is the biggy!!

You can't run and hide every time the media goes crazy every year with a flu scare. Remember, it's just the flu and you will get over it and be fine.

I used to run and hide but I do not anymore!!

I am also against running out to get those "NEW shots for the season and stick more poisen into my kids that we really don't know much about.

My youngest Dd got a flu shot one year because the doctor frantically told me to do it because she actually had the influenza the winter before.

So, I did and she must of had a reaction to it cuz it was like she had ADD until the stuff wore off. Warning....if you or your child is allergic to eggs, you cannot get the shot. They use eggs to do something with the shots.

So now, if I know a certain flu is running around our area, I watch my kids, take them in to get tested and get them on Meds right away.

By doing this, my one son only ran a temp. and never had any other complication with the influenza.

Just be smart and don't panic, the media loves to scare us and suck our money with those shots every year.

[LizzyBee]

I thought you were going to post the article about hand sanitizers containing disease-causing bacteria in them from a few weeks ago. I teased my oldest dd about that one because she says she's a germophobe and makes a big deal of carrying her hand sanitizer. Personally, I like to have hand sanitizer handy if we have to use porta potties or if we're eating in a park with no running water, but that's about it.

[Mom-ninja.]

I use the brand Clean Well. No alcohol in it.

[cillakat]

Guys, this is ridiculous. Seriously. I can see it being a problem with a 1 or 2 yo in daycare.....the teacher walking by squirting a blob of handsanitizer in everyone's hand then walking on.....the kid eats it, licks et.....whatever.

 

but your child *cannot* get alcohol poisoning if the sanitizer is applied then rubbed in till it's dry which is proper use for hand sanitizer.

 

 

Katherine

[cillakat]

I use the brand Clean Well. No alcohol in it.

 

Then it contains one of the endocrine disrupting antibacterials most likely....alcohol based hand santizing gels are the gold standard.

 

K

[Mom-ninja.]

Then it contains one of the endocrine disrupting antibacterials most likely....alcohol based hand santizing gels are the gold standard.

 

K

 

 

 

Here's the list of ingredients:

 

Thymus Vulgaris Oil (active ingredient that kills the germs)

 

Inactive:

 

Aloe, Citric acid, Orange oil, hydrolized oats, litsea oil, oregano oil, sodium citrate, dicapyrl sodium sulfosuccinate, copper pca, water.

 

None of the ingrdients are above a 1 on the environmental workers group site, Skin Deep.

 

I do my research. :D

[Mom-ninja.]

Guys, this is ridiculous. Seriously. I can see it being a problem with a 1 or 2 yo in daycare.....the teacher walking by squirting a blob of handsanitizer in everyone's hand then walking on.....the kid eats it, licks et.....whatever.

 

but your child *cannot* get alcohol poisoning if the sanitizer is applied then rubbed in till it's dry which is proper use for hand sanitizer.

 

 

Katherine

 

I agree. Use properly and sparingly as it is intended.

[MommyX8]

I have a recipe that called for Tea Tree Oil in aloe vera.

 

 

I'm a soap and water gal myself, though.