Hand sanitizers are being used for the wrong reasons.
Poison control centers are warning parents that there is a growing number of children getting drunk after drinking alcohol-based hand sanitizers, according to the news outlet The Kansas City Star.
“Kids are getting into these products more frequently and, unfortunately, there are a percentage of them going to the emergency room,” Tama Sawyer, director of the University of Kansas Hospital poison control center, said Monday.
Poison control center hotlines across the United States have seen a nearly 400% increase in calls related to children younger than 12 getting sick from hand sanitizers since 2010, according to CNN.
The amount of alcohol in hand sanitizer reportedly ranges from 45% to 95%. Even ingesting small amounts can reportedly cause alcohol poisoning.
The alarming fact about hand sanitizer is that it’s much more accessible to young children than wine or beer is, but it has a much higher alcohol content. Wine and beer respectively contain only about 12% and 5% alcohol, according to Dr. Gaylord Lopez, the director of the Georgia Poison Center.
Six-year-old Nhaijah Russell reportedly stated that the liquid hand sanitizer at school tasted like strawberry. Russell was reportedly taken to the emergency room because she was slurring her words and unable to walk.
"A kid is not thinking this is bad for them," Lopez said.
“A lot of the more attractive (hand sanitizers) are the ones that are scented. There are strawberry, grape, orange-flavored hand sanitizers that are very appealing to kids."