Hand Sanitizers and urban legends
My church sent out an email telling us that they are pulling all hand sanitizers off the shelves and out of the class rooms effective immediately! Reason?!?! A 4 year old licked the hand sanitizer off her hands instead of rubbing it o n her hands. Most emails are urban legends but this one has been proven true by not only snopes but urban legends as well.
Turns out most brands of hand sanitizer have up to 60% of alcohol in them. This shouldn’t surprise you. Anything you use that evaporated has to have some sort alcohol in it. The danger is when kids lick it. The little girl in the story had a blood alcohol level of .085 6 hours after the initial ER visit. Can you imagine what it would have been immediately upon ingestion? OMG!
There are several good hand sanitizing agents out there that have no alcohol. MM keeps some in her pocketbook that foams up. Granted, I personally think it stinks, no one else does. So make sure you check and make sure there is no alcohol in the hand sanitizers that you have around your home. My son chews on my fingers all the time and I have been using Purell. Not any more as it has alcohol in it.
The moral of the story is that there is just no substitute for good hand washing with soap and water. You need to wash your hands for at least 20 seconds with soap before you rinse with warm water. Ironically, the CDC recommends using alcohol based waterless hand sanitizers. I’m sure that will change soon.
2 really good websites to check stories for validity are snopes and urban legends. This way you don’t waste time on Google. I always get sucked into searching for things I don’ tneed to search on and find that an hour has gone by.
Tags: hand-washing, health
11 opinions for Hand Sanitizers and urban legends
Leslie
Oct 24, 2007 at 1:42 pm
Maybe it’s because I only have one child to care for, but this just seems nuts to me? Pulling ALL of the alcohol based hand sanitizer because one kid made a mistake? I let my 2 year old use my Purell when we dine out, but I make sure I’m there when she does use it and she can’t go anywhere until its all rubbed in and dry. Then again, I also fight the “don’t suck your fingers” battle daily…
kellys
Oct 24, 2007 at 2:00 pm
I agree that my initial response was “why didn’t that teacher watch her use it properly?” I never give it to my little 2 year old without making sure she rubs it in and it is gone first. But I got to thinking about my son and decided that it was not worth the thought of him getting ANY in his system. So I will just wash my hands the old fashioned way.
I work in the local hopsital and they are always having new ways to clean your hands fast. I love the alcohol based methods but even the hospital recommends soap and water. The other methods are just easier and have a higher compliance rate. That is more important than arguing over the method if both work.
Karen
Oct 24, 2007 at 2:37 pm
My daughter used to use hand sanitizer after she used the bathroom. She was so little and it was hard for her to get up to the sink. We don’t use it anymore though because of all the things I’ve read about it. We still keep it in the car though. My kids don’t really stick their hands in their mouths and I can’t stand grocery store germs!
clifford
Oct 24, 2007 at 3:11 pm
Do you people ever read the ingredients list on the products that you buy? If you did you would have known from day one that hand sanitizer has alcohol in it. It is amazing how so many people think new things are great until some four year old licks her hand. Start being responsible parents and see what products are mad from before you actually use them.
Karen
Oct 24, 2007 at 3:41 pm
Clifford, I understand your point, but when you’re shopping with a 3 year old and a 1 year old it’s hard to read all the labels. When you see hand sanitizer with a cute grape on the front and it looks kid friendly, then you think that it is. The same goes with all these medicines they’ve taken off the shelves.
kellys
Oct 24, 2007 at 6:37 pm
Clifford, I have always known that it had alcohol in it. I have used it for years and like the concept. For adults, I think it is a wonderful thing. My issue is only that my son likes my fingers right now. And yes, I do read the labels. I am very vigilant about labels. Even moreso now that I have kids. I think you must have misunderstood me.
Jennifer
Oct 25, 2007 at 2:35 am
I think it’s good they pulled them but more so because I hate the idea of growing germ resistant bacteria based on hand sanitizer (and other sanitizing options) — basic lessons in micro. People should be using soap and plain old water anyway. I do agree with Kellys who noted, “The other methods are just easier and have a higher compliance rate.” because in hospital clinicals it was bad (I saw tons of not hand washing going on by docs and nurses) so there’s that. It just seems sort of lame to grow new hefty germs because people don’t want to take 20 seconds. Although, technically a bit longer is better.
kellys
Oct 25, 2007 at 6:31 am
I totally agree, Jennifer. When you scrub for surgery, you are required to scrub with a betadine soap for at least 2 minutes.
Cozmo
Oct 26, 2007 at 8:42 pm
Is this for real? I still don’t believe it. People are stupid :(
kellys
Oct 28, 2007 at 7:10 pm
Yes, it is real and I think common sense takes the most control of the situation.
kathylynn
Nov 6, 2007 at 1:02 pm
Let’s face it no one is looking out for our kids anymore. It’s all about making money. The majority of people that use hand sanitizer is children. I keep it in my purse for the purpose of using it on my children.(not anymore) Little dirt never hurt them years ago! LOL
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