Young children and hand sanitizers may not be a good mix

And speaking of antibiotics, you’ve heard me rail against anti-bacterial hand sanitizers for kids. But I thought it was a bad idea because of “smart bugs.” Turns out that there’s a more immediate and more serious threat: Many hand sanitizers have a high alcohol content, which can be a bad mix with kids.

I received an email (and checked the story on Snopes.com) that alerted me to this issue. It’s the story of 4-year-old Halle who became lethargic and incoherent while at school. She was taken to a local ER where multiple tests showed nothing wrong. Finally, doctors were informed that she’d been licking hand sanitizer off her hands earlier in the school day.

A blood alcohol test revealed that Halle was still intoxicated, six full hours after arriving at the hospital.

Other similar events have already prompted some schools to discontinue hand sanitizer use or change to alcohol-free products. Use of fragrance-free products is also a good idea because a child might think a sweetly scented dab of hand sanitizer is a treat.

Please share this warning with friends, family, and school administrators: Hand sanitizer may seem benign, but young children should only use alcohol-free brands and only when administered by an adult. If you wouldn’t leave open the liquor cabinet or a bottle of cough syrup, don’t give them unfettered access to this potential poison either.