Sanitizer scare has parents worried

Did a 4-year-old girl named Halle really get alcohol poisoning after licking hand-sanitizer gel off her hands?

That's the story in a widely circulating e-mail. And it has some parents around the country calling for schools and child-care facilities to ban the common anti-germ gel.

Monday, it got to the point William Hurley, medical director of the Washington Poison Center, officially warned that such a move would be unwise.

"Hand sanitizers are effective in controlling the spread of infections," said Hurley, who points to a 2005 study that found a 59 percent reduction in the spread of gastrointestinal illness when families used the popular products. "I think it would be a mistake to take it out of those environments."

The e-mail story goes like this: School officials phoned Halle's dad to come and pick up his "very, very sick" daughter. Then Halle was "rushed to the emergency room by her father for being severely lethargic and incoherent."

Doctors were stumped, the story goes, but then Halle's classmates revealed they had seen her lick the sanitizer from her hands.

The Web site Snopes.com, which debunks and sometimes verifies urban legends, says the story is basically true, citing television reports from Oklahoma.

Information

Washington Poison Center 1-800-222-1222 or www.wapc.org.

Most gels currently sold contain 60 to 90 percent ethanol, the same type of alcohol present in liquor, perfume and mouthwash. Some contain isopropyl alcohol, which is more potent.

Hurley said an average-size 5-year-old would have to ingest almost six teaspoons — about 1 ounce — of an ethanol gel to cause toxicity, and about half that from isopropyl gels. Regardless, it's more than the typical squirt used on hands.

Locally, the state poison center has received 656 reports of children ingesting sanitizing gel. Only 25 of those showed minor toxicity such as coughing or vomiting. Only one showed signs of intoxication, Hurley said: a 6-year-old girl who drank an estimated half to two-thirds of a 16-ounce bottle.

"She was a little goofy in speech and in walking, but not sedated or in any danger," he said.

Still, to be cautious, small children should always be supervised with the gel, which should be dispensed by an adult. Bottles should be labeled with a "Mr. Yuk" sticker, available from the poison center, and stored out of the reach of children.

Carol M. Ostrom: 206-464-2249 or costrom@seattletimes.com