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Two emails hit our inbox in 2007: The first alert quoted above (which began circulating via e-mail in mid-January 2007) was written by Jennifer Moe, the mother of a 2-year-old girl who had ingested some hand sanitizer. The second example (May 2007) was written by Lacey Butler, the mother of a 4-year-old girl who had done the same; although it contains some errors of fact or transcription (e.g., a blood alcohol level [measured at] 85%), it is a true tale in the sense that 4-year-old Halle Butler, a pre-kindergarten student at Okmulgee Primary School in Okmulgee, Oklahoma, was treated at an area hospital after eating a small amount of hand sanitizer squirted into her palm by a teacher. While the stories as related in the e-mailed accounts fortunately did not result in death or serious injury, they are cautionary tales worth heeding because they present a scenario that can all too easily be repeated in other households, schools, or daycare centers with small children. Hand sanitizer gels and wipes include a surprising amount of alcohol (e.g., Purell and Germ-X contain 62% Ethyl Alcohol), and a child who swallowed enough of such products could experience what 2-year-old Sydney and 4-year-old Halle went through: intoxication, possibly even alcohol poisoning. However, although such poisonings are possible, they are still quite rare due to the relatively large amount of bad-tasting sanitizer that a toddler would typically have to ingest to experience such harmful results: Bottles of topical anti-bacterials do carry explicit warnings about the danger they pose (e.g., bottles of Purell hand sanitizer caution: Keep out of reach of children. If swallowed, get medical help or contact a Poison Control Center right away.) However, unlike cleaning supplies and numerous other products commonly used in the home, hand sanitizer isn't generally thought of as something that presents a poisoning danger to children — folks unthinkingly tend to regard it the way they do hand lotion, as something that can be safely left on a counter or nightstand. Yet such products shouldn't be left within easy reach, not if one has a small child about. While one might think the taste of the product (which in Purell's case is akin to a slightly flowery version of vodka) would keep children from swallowing too much of it, kids can and do get into the darnest things. Youngsters are especially at risk of ingesting poisons from ordinary household products due to four factors, notes a 1993 Clinical Pediatrics article:Although the warning's author argues for the outright ban of hand sanitizer from any home where small children reside, it needs be kept in mind that a 2005 study of 292 families by Children's Hospital Boston (in which one-half of the subjects got hand sanitizers, while the other half received literature advising them to wash their hands frequently) found that those who used hand sanitizer gels experienced a 59% reduction in gastrointestinal illnesses, and that increased use of sanitizers corresponded with a decreased spread of contagions (including those resulting in respiratory illnesses).
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