With flu season upon us, I wanted to take a moment to remind you of the dangers associated with alcohol based hand sanitizers. One of our staff members got an email from her mother today and we wanted to find out if these horror stories were in fact true. According to snopes.com they are. Although the specific anecdotes in the email were not verified, snopes reports that there are documented cases of alcohol poisoning and intoxication associated with hand sanitizer. Remember that this is a form of alcohol (ethyl alchol) that causes intoxication, not isopropyl alcohol commonly used for sanitizing injection areas.
Snopes goes on to say that ingesting as little as an ounce or two could be fatal to a toddler. So please remember to keep these products out of the reach of the little ones this fall and winter, and if you allow them to use it, do not let them ingest any and keep an eye on them until they have rubbed it in and the alcohol has evaportated.
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5 comments:
You might consider checking a more scientific site than snopes.com
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, while hand washing is the most effective, using alcohol based hand sanitizers reduces the incidence of GI illnesses http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/abstract/116/3/587
AND
reduces absenteesism http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/abstract/121/6/e1555
There are no research articles published by any medical agency that supports this fear.
Here is a clinical study that also indicates dangers to toddlers and deaths that have been reported.
http://www.uptodate.com/patients/content/topic.do?topicKey=~0Q6cwKC7HIyt21
Ethanol intoxication in children: Clinical features, evaluation, and management
Author Carl R Baum, MD, FAAP, FACM
Section Editor Michele Burns Ewald, MD
Deputy Editor James F Wiley, II, MD, MPH
— Despite its abuse potential, ethanol is broadly tolerated in a social context and is therefore ubiquitous in society. It is available in a multitude of alcoholic beverages but also concentrated in household products (eg, vanilla extract, mouthwash, perfume/cologne) (show table 1 "Ethanol content").
Exploratory ethanol ingestion by children under 6 years of age typically results in minor symptoms. However, infants and young children are prone to profound hypoglycemia, coma, and hypothermia despite ingesting relatively small amounts of ethanol. Deaths have been reported [1-3].
Binge drinking and other forms of ethanol abuse are common problems in preteens and adolescents. Toxicity and treatment generally follow that recommended in adults. Comorbidities include motor vehicle crashes, physical assault, sexual assault, and mental illness.
Supportive care is the mainstay of managing ethanol intoxication in children. Treatment of respiratory depression, hypoglycemia, hypovolemia, and hypothermia are the key interventions to ensure good outcomes.
The evaluation and management of ethanol intoxication in children is discussed in this review. Epidemiology, pharmacokinetics, estimation of toxicity, and toxic effects seen in pediatric ethanol exposure are discussed separately. (See "Ethanol intoxication in children: Epidemiology, estimation of toxicity, and toxic effects").
This is a great article. We actually this winter used the Clean Well for me at work and my kids at home. Worked very well. We even got the wipes and the desktop foaming hand spray for when we stop off to eat or after the restroom while running errands.
we got ours at GraceNaturals.com.
kept us out of the docs for sure this year. So much so, our neighbor started to use it too!
There is an excellent new alcohol free hand sanitizer coming to the market, the first truly 100% alcohol free in gel format, which avoids the dangers mentioned above, while offering up to 2 hours ongoing protection while moisturising the skin, leaving clean hands AND healthy skin. More info on www.alcoholfreehandsanitizergel.com
I'm a new mom and am looking for a child safe hand sanitizer. I heard about Wally's new 100% natural hand santizer. Does anyone else know anything about this? Here is the link below.
https://wallysnatural.com/new/wallys-all-natural-hand-sanitizer.html
https://wallysnatural.com/new/
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