Parent Alert: Kids drinking HAND SANITIZER to get drunk

Some children hospitalized with alcohol poisoning

More and more children across America have been drinking hand sanitizer for reasons varying from tasty aromas to attempts to get drunk.

MUNTINLUPA, PHILIPPINES (Catholic Online) - CNN reported the ingestion of hand sanitizers could cause "drunkenness" and alcohol poisoning. Parents and teachers have been urged to keep them out of children's reach, monitor its use and even consider switching to non-alcohol alternatives or those non-liquid sanitizers such as wipes.

The Georgia Poison Center revealed there has been a 400 percent increase of recorded cases of calls to poison control centers across America regarding children under 12 years old swallowing hand sanitizers since 2010. 

Alcohol content of hand sanitizers range from 45 to 95 percent, which can cause alcohol poisoning even if ingested in small amounts (2 to 3 pumps). 

Dr. Gaylord Lopez, director at the Georgia Poison Center, said in 2014, 16,117 hand sanitizer ingestion cases involving young kids were recorded. It was a definite massive increase from the 3,266 previously reported to poison centers.

Alarmingly, some kids believe the liquid hand sanitizers smell "yummy," explained Dr. Lopez. There are others consuming the product to get drunk or as the result of a dare among other children.

Six-year-old Nhaijah Russell ingested 3 to 4 squirts of liquid hand sanitizer while at school, resulting in drunken behavior and a serious fall. Her words were slurred and she was unable to walk. When she fell, she hit her head on the floor. 

Dr. Chris Ritchey said her blood-alcohol level registered at .179, twice the legal amount of blood-alcohol levels among adults. The young girl was rushed to the emergency room and was monitored overnight for signs of brain trauma due to the fall, added the report.

When she was asked why she ate the hand sanitizer, Nhaijah told CNN that the strawberry-flavored liquid tasted good.

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