Hand Sanitizer
 

I received an e-mail today about children getting deathy ill from licking their fingers, on which they had used hand sanitizer. It said that Snopes said it was true.

I didn't check it out, but was wondering if any of you heard of this? It supposedly turned out to be alcohol poisoning from the alcohol in the HS.:eek: I use it all the time but will certainly not let my Grands use it.

i havn't heard that but it's an interesting theory.
alcohol can be absorbed thru the skin. i once had a child die a long time ago.
i worked the peds ICU and the kid had been sick and had a fever. the mom thought she could bring the fever down by giving him a sponge bath but she put alcohol in the water.

PS...never do that. a sponge bath with tepid water is the best to bring down a fever in a child. and, NO aspirin to kids under 18. it can cause something called Reyes Sydrome. i saw lots of small kids die of that too.

sorry this turned into a depressing lecture. but with kids i wouldn't be surprised.

Wow that is a really scary story for those of us with little ones in public schools. It was on the shopping list we had to supply 4 bottles of this stuff for my kindergartner this year... who was out sick again today and will be tomorrow with sinus infection #2 since starting school back in August.

Hmmm, I hadn't heard that, Sal.

Here's a link: http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/sanitizer.asp

And yes, its true!

I have heard of this many times. It's all the chemicals they put in there. But if the kids use just a little bit, it's fine. But since kids can't seem to use just a little of anything, that's where the problem is. I prefer hand washing with water and so does DD especially if we are going to be eating. Her school does use soap and water before lunch unless there is no time, then they use the hand sanitizer.

When DS was in 1st grade, a class-mate gave him an apple slice with hand sanitizer on it (kid was crazy wild - later stole mom's ATM card and walked 1 1/2 mile to town and tried to use at Bank's ATM machine!!!!! (later at my friend's DVD store kid tried to charge a DVD. Friend kept kid talking there until cops came.) I came home to phone message from school nurse saying "Poison Center said he'll be fine" WHAT!!! Yeah, flipped out, later made kid's mom cry when I called her kid a psychotic. He was!!! No kid trusted him after he tried to poison my kid. As principal said, if kid had anything stronger he would have used it. DS avoids apples to this day.

DS cried (my sweet little boy of 7) cried and spit in the bathroom and two pals tried to comfort him until a grown-up came, having finally figured it out). I cry now thinking how easy it would be to lose him. Kid is now 17.

Nurse Nancy is right! Kid's are little, their bodies are different from ours. I was lucky my local hospital had a Pediatric ER (never used, but could call all I needed and I did. Kids seem to only get sick in middle of night) - Regular ERs are set up for grownups - too big equipment, too big dosages, Doctors used to grown-up. If you go to them, keep telling them kids are littler!!!

DS at 4 y.o.woke up barking/coughing with croup (3 a.m.). Had read about it, turned shower on hot, sat with him on floor in steamy bathroom. Cold freezer air helps to change bronchial tube(?) size too. Missed Strep becoming Scarlet Fever though. Kids!!!! Anything can happen. Called ER about croup, they said I did good. Hope you never use my hint. Scared me. Friend's baby kept dropping his head as if asleep as she picked up my kids to watch. Later she found out he had asthma and was passing out from lack of air. She drove to pediatrician's a little later in terror. My 3 year olds were with her, told me about it later. "Mommy, Beanie went over the curb and drove on the grass to pass that truck!" Yikes!!!

yep! there is alcohol in those things. TEACH your children to NOT lick their hands, or suck on their fingers, or chew their nails. A child's liver is immature and cannot and should not be able to process alcohol. They can go to a past legal limit to drive in a heartbeat.

Hand wipes are better for children, like wet ones, or the generic brand of those as they dont contain alcohol.

If you have children in school make a move for the gel stuff to be swapped for the wipes. You are gonna hear other mothers scream about all the paper waste that is created by the hand wipes, but I would rather have paper waste, than wasted children. YES! teenagers are licking this stuff for the high.

Am removing hand sanitizer from bathroom sink, as we type..:eek:

Thanks twink, for the link.:)

I don't have any in the house. I do have the wipes to clean the house with - keep them up where gdd can't get them. Seems a lot safer to me, to sanitize the things she touches rather than to try to sanitize her, lol. She likes to wash her hands, so that's good.

And since using the wipes, dd and gdd have not gotten sick anywhere near as often.

Karousel - so right about little kids not using a little of anything.

We took some gel, and hand wipes to church Sunday. We noticed that none existed in the whole place, and with folks shaking hands to say hello, and goodbye, we worried.

We stopped the preacher and made sure he made an announcement that the "gel" stuff has alcohol, and mommas should make sure to supervise babies, OR use the hand wipe kind provided.


I have hand wipes tucked everywhere! I wipe down carriages, and door handles, and phones, or keyboards, or those pens that you use to sign for a CC purchase, or those gross, overly infected pens at the pharmacy counter that you have to sign for your meds. Its that pen that you must use their pens! gross! I always grab it with a wipe first. yuck! All those sick people showing up to get their meds, and everyone has to touch the same pen!


***shivers****walks off****:hug:

I've heard it too. We don't use them here. I have stressed to dds since they were wee little ones that hand washing is the best defense against viruses and other nasties. Some of the wipes have alcohol in them too; so be careful with those as well.

BTW - I don't know if any of you saw this article posted but . . .

http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/thread96087.html

Thanks Trish...
I've never heard of or used any of their products, below.....I use Purell.

• Citrushield Lotion
• Dermasentials DermaBarrier
• Dermassentials by Clarcon Antimicrobial Hand Sanitizer
• Iron Fist Barrier Hand Treatment
• Skin Shield Restaurant
• Skin Shield Industrial
• Skin Shield Beauty Salon Lotion
• Total Skin Care Beauty
• Total Skin Care Work

I don't either but I thought I'd post the link just in case anyone does. Quite honestly, I just use regular soap and water. There are good germs out there we actually need; not all are bad.

They are now saying that the use of all these antimicrobial soaps and such is actually having a negative effect on our immune systems.

I know and I agree, only usze it during flu season.......I like soap and water too....It smells better.:)

Hhhhmmmmm. Now how do I warn my co-workers?

We're coming up on a shuttle mission and I work with some of the world's most paranoid people. They go thru cases and cases and, well, semi trucks of hand sanitizer during mission. We pack more people into mission control than you could ever imagine (standing room only in mission evaluation rooms) so everyone's worried about catching something from someone else. Look at the NASA channel and look for hand sanitizer bottles on every console. We got Russians, Japanese, Germans, Italians, all kinds of people shoe-horned into the complex...

Maybe I can get a few of them licking their fingers...

Tom

:Bow: :Thats-Funneh: :ROTFLMAO:

So when I watch the NASA channel and all these people are licking their fingers, laughing, and behaving like children, I will know who instigated that one. Thanks for the heads up Major Tom.:D

I have heard people say that that the fist punch is more preferrred over a handshake at church. I guess we could do the chest bump!

I've heard the same, which is why I never use it. And funny, we never get the flu or colds in my house.

Kill the bad germs on the surfaces that I control, in my house. And wash hands as often as possible. Simple as that. Been that way for 100's of years and worked. People are germaphobes these days, lol.

My kids had snakes and lizards, turtles and birds, cats and dogs, you name it. Never got sick from all that either. I used to let them get filthy dirty - they are wash and wear, I always said. Dgd, too. Builds the immune system to play in the yard and get messy.

The other kids with NO pets rules, spotless house, never got dirty - they're the ones with asthma and every other thing.


Tom - catch em licking their fingers, and we'll want to know if it's just the gel, or something better.

;)

But if you catch em picking their nose, you'll know WHY they need the gel.

:p

Since my daughter is alllergic to propylene glycol, she can't use most of the regular hand sanitizers. I found one at a local grocery store, called Clean Well, that is all natural and made with plant oils. It has no glycol, is alcohol free and kills 99.99% of germs.