The Drug & Poison Information Centre (DPIC) at the BC Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) is urging people to safely handle and store hand sanitizers, including keeping them out of reach of children, following a sharp increase in calls about accidental ingestions.
In January and February, there were fewer than two calls a week on average about hand sanitizer exposure in children under five. In April, there was an average of seven per week. For the same time periods, calls about adults being exposed to hand sanitizer rose from an average of one per week to 3.5 per week.
Hand sanitizers have a high alcohol content and can cause alcohol poisoning if consumed in large enough amounts. However, most hand sanitizers contain a bittering agent that makes the taste very unpleasant and people who drink hand sanitizer by accident typically only ingest a small amount. Most the calls in recent weeks have been about exposures to less than a tablespoon and there have not been any serious injuries. Nonetheless hand sanitizer poses a particular risk to young children, who can become ill from even a small amount of alcohol due to their small body size.
“Practicing good hand hygiene is key to preventing the spread of COVID-19,” says Dr. Tom Kosatsky, the medical director of Environmental Health Services at BCCDC, “and alcohol-based sanitizers are a good option for cleaning your hands when it’s not possible to wash them with soap and water. However, as these products become more a part of our daily lives it’s important to be careful when storing them and using them, especially if there are young children in your home.”
In response to COVID-19, some businesses such as breweries and distilleries that do not typically make hand sanitizer are now producing it. These sanitizers are liquid, rather than gel, and are sometimes packaged in bottles or cans that look like beverage containers, making them easier to consume by accident.
If you have hand sanitizer in your home, take the following precautions to prevent accidental ingestion:
- If you purchase sanitizer in a package that could be mistaken for a beverage container, pour the hand sanitizer into a different container (such as a spray bottle) that has been emptied, cleaned, and dried.
- Alternatively, replace the cap of the existing bottle with a pump to make the product look different from drink containers.
- Make sure all containers of hand sanitizer are labelled clearly.
- If you have young children in your home, avoid buying hand sanitizers that may be more attractive to kids, such as hand sanitizers that are scented or contain glitter.
- Always store hand sanitizer out of reach of children, pets and people with dementia.
If you think someone has swallowed any amount of hand sanitizer, call your local poison control centre. For the BC Drug and Poison Information Centre, call 1-800-567-8911.
For more information about hand sanitizer and cleaning your hands to prevent COVID-19 visit the
BCCDC website.
