If you have small children in your house, hopefully you carefully read and heed all warning labels. Any product labeled “Keep out of reach of children. If swallowed, get medical help or contact a Poison Control Center right away.” should be locked away and used with extreme caution. One dangerous product that often gets overlooked is the hand sanitizer.
Hand sanitizers are becoming increasingly popular in schools, daycare centers, doctors’ offices, and hospitals. When hand washing is not convenient, hand sanitizers have proven valuable in reducing the spread of contagious illnesses. Hand washing is still the best way to remove dirt and decrease the spread of germs. Unfortunately, hand sanitizers are often left out in easy reach as if they were innocent lotions instead of the powerful chemicals that they are.
The Purell and Germ-X brands of hand sanitizers each contain 62% ethyl alcohol. Hand sanitizer is equivalent to 124 proof alcohol. To give a reference point, light beer is generally 6 proof (3% alcohol) and white wine is typically 24 proof (12% alcohol). It has more alcohol than vodka (80 proof)!
If a toddler ingests one or two ounces, or just three squirts of the hand sanitizer, IT COULD BE FATAL. Swallowing a smaller amount can cause intoxication or alcohol poisoning. Even a small amount licked from a child’s hand can cause dizziness, disorientation, headache, stomachache, slurred speech, etc.
While the makers of Purell claim that their product is not toxic or unsafe when used as directed, young children cannot read those directions. The Purell FAQ states:
Is Purell safe for children?
Purell is safe for children when used according to the directions. Children should be supervised when using Purell. All Purell Instant Hand Sanitizers contain an additive that tastes bitter and makes Purell undesirable to drink. As with all drug products, consult your physician before using on babies or young children.
Snopes.com, an excellent online resource to verify e-mail forwards and urban myths, talks about the dangers of hand sanitizers. They also do an excellent job explaining why children ingest non-food items.
We do not normally use hand sanitizer gels or wipes. At home, we wash the kids’ hands with antibacterial hand soap and plenty of warm water. When we go out, we use regular baby wipes to clean all surfaces that come in contact with the kids’ skin (high chairs, shopping cart handles, etc.). We also try to wash their hands in the washroom before and after eating.
We do keep small bottles of Purell in both our car and our diaper bag. We only use it in emergencies, such as after touching animals or changing diapers when there is no sink nearby. The kids make a game out of rubbing and shaking their hands until the gel is completely dry. We always remind our kids to keep their hands out of their mouths if we see them licking their hands or sucking their fingers, but we are especially vigilant after they use any type of hand sanitizer.
Here are some tips to help keep your children safe from hand sanitizers:
- Keep hand sanitizers out of reach of children (The packages are not childproof!)
- Closely supervise children during use
- Rub hands together until completely dry
- Explain that the hand sanitizer is dangerous if used improperly
- Remind children not to put their fingers or hands in their mouth, nose, or eyes after immediate use
11 responses so far ↓
1 Beth // May 26, 2007 at 8:13 am
Thanks for bring this to my attention. I never knew the real dangers. I always treated them as lotions. They’ll be locked away in my house.
I really enjoy this blog and I love your articles Elaine!
2 Elaine // May 29, 2007 at 4:56 pm
Thanks for visiting the site, Beth! Don’t forget to subscribe to our RSS feed for instant updates to our blog.
3 Allison Roberts // May 30, 2007 at 1:14 pm
I’m the director of sales for Hands2GO, a natural alcohol-free hand sanitizer that is safe for children. It is 99.9% effective at killing germ and because it is alcohol free it is non-irritating to the skin. Hands2GO is also fragrance free. I’d like to send some samples to Marlo and Elaine. Please e-mail me with an address so I can send you an information package and a sample, I think you will find Hands2GO a smarter solution for hand sanitizing.
4 Elaine // May 30, 2007 at 2:24 pm
We’re looking forward to trying Hands2GO. Thanks Allison.
5 Gail Brenner // Nov 12, 2007 at 11:56 am
As I go through the information on MRSA as well as the issues surrounding it I can across you web site. I teach Family and Consumer science along with Child Development and Nutrition. This site looks like I can get good information as well as a feed back from others. Thank you, Gail
6 Elaine // Nov 17, 2007 at 12:53 am
Thanks, Gail. I’m glad you like our site.
7 Angel // Feb 5, 2008 at 4:57 pm
I am glad that I found this site, Although I allready knew this infromation, there are many that do not!
I would just like to say mom to other mom’s, Pay attention to the check-out’s specially at say walmart super center’s. they are full of these product’s and they are all within child’s reach! I am only aprox 5′2″ and they all come to my waste, I only noticed this after my child 19 month’s old, had an empty bottle of hand sanatizer, it was only 5 ml. but it was empty and he shook his head yes that he had drank it!, What was a shocker is that not one employee that we spoke with knew what to do in this instant! they did not even know of anything to induce vomiting! know I know that you do not induce vomiting untill contacting poision controll first! It may cause even more damage! Luckly for me my son must have grabbed an allready empty bottle, and he had not ingested it! but the sacre knowing that it is all alchol and what damage it could do was enough! I tryed not to panic, but the emotion’s and stress took it’s toll on me! It tooke me 3 day’s to recover from that scare!
Maybe if we all notice small thing’s like this, we can bring it to the attention of other’s and maybe get that stuff moved out of the check-out’s!!!! It is almost impossible to keep that close eye on the child while you are at the other end of the shopping cart unloading your thing’s onto the belt!
Please keep this in mind the next shopping trip you make.
Frightened and concerned mommy of 3!
8 Elaine // Feb 5, 2008 at 6:57 pm
Thanks, Angel! It’s always good to be reminded of those things. I guess I should consider myself lucky that my kids always go for the candy instead of the batteries, lighters, hand sanitizer, etc.
Regarding possible poisoning, if you don’t have the poison control number handy, call 911 right away!
9 Angel // Feb 5, 2008 at 8:34 pm
Thank’s much! I really think Walmart need’s to take care of this matter, I would rather have them go for the candy or even chap stick than the rest of it!
10 Safe Hand Sanitizers and Anti-Bacterials | Natural Family Living Blog // Mar 19, 2008 at 12:29 pm
[…] all seem to be taking the lazy path and utilizing waterless hand sanitizers instead. Also, these hand santizers have the equivalent of 124 proof alcohol. That is more alcohol than vodka and 3 ingested squirts could be enough to cause alcohol poisoning. […]
11 For My CH.I.L.D - Change in Little Doses » Blog Archive » Dirty Hands Getting Clean…Alcohol-Free! // Mar 24, 2008 at 2:13 pm
[…] of you were asking why this is safer than products such as Purell. Well, hand sanitizers have the equivalent of 124 proof alcohol. That is more alcohol than vodka and 3 ingested squirts could be enough to cause alcohol poisoning. […]
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