Hand sanitizers – particularly ethanol-based hand sanitizers (EBHS) – are an excellent way to clean little hands when there is no access to soap and water, but EBHS should be used with care. Just as a parent would not let their child play with a bottle of vodka or whiskey, they should not let their child play with hand sanitizer.
Information from the Iowa Poison Center says that many hand sanitizers contain 62% ethanol, by comparison, most brands of hard liquor (whiskey, etc.) are 40-50% ethanol. Hand sanitizers come in containers ranging from 0.5 to 32 ounces. Many “purse sized” hand sanitizers are from 2 to 6 ounces.
The main hand sanitizer poisoning concern is from people drinking these products. Ingestion of an EBHS can lead to ethanol intoxication and has all the same signs and symptoms of ethanol intoxication that results from drinking beer, wine or mixed drinks. Some hand sanitizers use isopropyl alcohol instead of ethanol and pose the same danger to children as the EBHS’s.
A single lick of a hand sanitizer that has been spread on the hands is unlikely to cause intoxication or produce symptoms more than irritation of the mouth and tongue. Ethanol intoxication by absorbing the ethanol through intact skin is highly unlikely.
If a typical 2 year old, weighing about 27 pounds, drank his mother’s entire 2 ounce bottle of
EBHS, he would have a theoretical blood ethanol level (BEL) of 445 mg/dL. The legal limit for
driving drunk in Iowa is 80 mg/dL (0.08 g/dL). A single swallow of an EBHS in this child would
produce a blood ethanol level of approximately 50mg/dL.
Symptoms of ethanol intoxication in children can begin at a level of 50mg/dL. The symptoms of ethanol intoxication in a child include irritability, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, unsteady gait, loss of muscle control, and sleepiness. Severe ethanol intoxications can lead to coma, respiratory arrest and death. If a child is exposed to an EBHS, call the Iowa Poison Control Center at 1-800-222-1222. Nurse specialists will assess the situation and provide medical treatment advice.
Washing hands with soap and water for 20 seconds is the best way to remove dirt and germs
from the hands and is preferred to the use of EBHS. Hand sanitizers, a convenient option to soap and water, but should be kept out of reach of children in the same way that prescription drugs and other chemicals are. For answers to nutrition and health questions, contact the local extension office, E-mail pgilbert@iastate.edu, or call the toll-free ISU Answerline at 1-800-262-3804.
Information taken from the Iowa Statewide Poison Control Center.