Hand sanitizers, formulated to clean and disinfect dirty hands, are being reportedly ingested by more and more kids, making them dangerously drunk.
The Standard Daily reports that authorities are continually worried about the rising number of children who are reportedly getting drunk from ingesting hand sanitizers. The kids, apparently enticed by the attractive packaging and equally good-smelling flavors of new varieties, get to drink around two to three squirts of the alcohol-rich liquid.
CNN reports that six-year-old Nhaijah Russell ingested three or four squirts of the liquid sanitizer while at school, and said that it tasted good, like strawberry. Upon arriving at the emergency room, the poor child was dangerously drunk, having slurred speech and being unable to walk.
Dr. Gaylord Lopez, director of the Georgia Poison Center, said via CNN that "kids are getting into these products (hand sanitizers) more frequently, and unfortunately, there's a percentage of them going to the emergency room."
The GPC reports that since 2010 there has been a 400-percent increase in the number of calls made to poison center hotlines, all of which related to kids younger than 12 ingesting hand sanitizers.
The amount of alcohol in hand sanitizer formulations range from 45 to 95 percent, and alcohol poisoning can come from ingesting small amounts, even as little as two or three squirts. Lopez said that by comparison, wine and beer contain about 12 and 5 percent alcohol.
Dr. Chris Ritchey, who treated Nhaijah in the emergency room at the Gwinnett Medical Center near Atlanta, said that her blood-alcohol level was .179, twice the level of what's considered legally drunk in an adult. He said doctors had to observe her at a nearby children's hospital for signs of brain trauma as she hit her head from a fall caused by intoxication.
"That was very scary," Nhaijah's mother, Ortoria Scott, said. "It could have been very lethal for my child."
Lopez said that in 2010, the number of hand sanitizer cases related to kids that were reported to poison control centers was 3,266. In 2014, the number of cases shot up to 16,117.
He sent a letter to Georgia's school system, warning them about hand sanitizers being ingested.
"A kid is not thinking this is bad for them," said Lopez. "A lot of the more attractive (hand sanitizers) are the ones that are scented. There are strawberry, grape, orange-flavored hand sanitizers that are very appealing to kids."
Lopez recommended that sanitizer use should be monitored, and that alternatives like non-alcohol based products or wipes can also be used.
