I received an email the other day from a friend. It was one of those that gets passed on and on and on, and so I started to just delete it, but out of curiosity’s sake, read it. Now I’m all the wiser on something that I had no clue about: hand sanitizers and toddlers.
This particular email told of a 4-year-old toddler rushed to the emergency room because she was suddenly incoherent and unable to sit or stand. During ER testing, doctors found her blood alcohol level was .085, and this was six hours after her arrival. On further investigation, it seems the young girl had licked her hands after using an alcohol-based hand cleaner.
The email went on to say that after doing research on the Internet, the parents found that it only takes three squirts of the stuff to be fatal in a toddler. For this particular child’s blood alcohol level to be so high was like comparing someone her size to drinking something 120 proof.
After reading this, I did what I always do with stories like this one: I went to Snopes.com, a Web site that specializes in dispelling rumors and hoaxes. I knew the alcohol content of the products mentioned was high, but I wasn’t sure if a child could get drunk just from licking their hands. According to the webmasters at Snopes.com, which I trust due to their in-depth research, they confirmed two cases of severe alcohol poisoning from children drinking or licking hand sanitizer.
Since Snopes.com will not allow reproduction of their material without permission, and since I didn’t have time to receive said permission before my deadline, then I will point you to the story: http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/sanitizer.asp. I did do some research on my own, and found this information.
The product used above consisted of 62 percent ethyl alcohol (more than most hard liquors). Their teacher had given it to the children to use just before lunchtime, but instead of rubbing it in, Halle licked it off and got drunk.
A similar story was reported last January where 2-year-old Sydney Moe ate some hand sanitizer gel and was rushed to the emergency room with a BAC of .10 percent, legally drunk by the statutes in most states. Fortunately, she also recovered quickly.
Hand sanitizers have a worthy purpose: they sanitize. Some hand sanitizers contain isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol instead of ethyl alcohol, making them even more dangerous to ingest. They have proven, through much testing, to greatly reduce spreading germs and diseases.
The incidences of these two toddlers is a much needed warning to all mothers, daycares, schools and babysitters using these cleansers – be aware of the dangers and watch children closely after using them.