Alcohol Poisoning - Hand Sanitisers & Children

OK, I got this email, and it seems to be true... and very relevant for those of us in Asia where hand sanitisers are everywhere!


Read this at www.snopes.com and it is TRUE: http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/sanitizer.asp


There is lots of other info at the link at snopes, so check that out...


I HAVE EDITED BASED ON THE BELOW COMMENT (Thanks for the feedback, I posted this in a hurry (baby started crying!) and didn't phrase it right the first time)


The short of it is, hand sanitisers have alcohol, and some small children/toddlers have been attracted by the nice smell and eated a sufficient amount of it to get drunk/sick and have to go to hospital.


So as parents, we can still use hand sanitiser, but don't give our children unlimited access to it, and be sure they aren't licking their hands after using it.


The link above has two examples from parents and some good factual information.

Yes, Snopes does verify the general truth of the story (ie, ingesting hand sanitiser is dangerous for small children).


However, the section you have quoted is likely to make people believe that it is a myth (and Snopes verifies the errors of fact in this particular story). It is simply not possible for anyone, child or adult, to have a blood alcohol level of 85%.


And as for middle and high schoolers drinking it, I would have thought that if they wanted to get drunk, they could probably get their hands on something that tastes better than hand sanitiser!