Hand Sanitizer

What is hand sanitizer?

Hand sanitizer, such as Purell and Bath & Body Works are products for cleaning your hands when you don’t have soap and water. They kill germs, like viruses and bacteria, help to prevent the spread of colds and flu. Some brands of hand sanitizer use a form of alcohol to kill germs, while others use different chemicals.  Young children sometimes swallow hand sanitizer by getting into the bottle or licking it off their hands. Many of the new products come in different scents that are appealing to small children to try to taste because of the smell. Some people, especially teens, drink hand sanitizer on purpose for the alcohol. They can often find the instructions online for “distilling” the alcohol.

Dangers of hand sanitizers

If used correctly hand sanitizers are a safe method for preventing the spread of germs. Someone who swallows a lot of hand sanitizer with alcohol in it may show signs of being drunk, have trouble walking and talking. However, hand sanitizer taste bad and irritates the mouth, which keeps most people from drinking a harmful amount. Getting hand sanitizer in your eyes can also be painful.

What to do if someone may be poisoned by hand sanitizer

Call your local Poison Control Center if you have questions about hand sanitizer, whether someone has swallowed some, splashed in the eyes with, or if you just want information, 1-800-222-1222

If someone has swallowed hand sanitizer, we can help you figure out how much the person drank, what symptoms you may see and how to treat them. If someone gets hand sanitizer in their eyes, we will help your figure out if they need to flush their eyes and can tell you how to do it the right away.

Methods to prevent hand sanitizer poisoning

·         Use alcohol-free sanitizer when you can

·         Keep hand sanitizer out of reach of children

·         Keep hand sanitizer in the original container

·         Keep an eye on children when they use hand sanitizer

1-800-222-1222

In the United States every 15 seconds a Poison Control Centers receives a call. The interesting factor is more than half the phone calls are made by an adult taking care of the child, when the child ingests or is exposed to a poisonous substance. The substances can include medicine, household chemical, and pesticides. The Center for Disease Control reports there is approximately 2 million poison exposures in the United States every year, more than 57% of the exposures are children under the age of 6. Approximately 30 children die every year related to accidentally poisonings. For children the most common exposure of household products includes; cleaning substances, medications, cosmetics, personal care products, foreign body ingestion  and plants. A staggering statistic of the majority of accidental poisonings is 90 percent occur in the home.

Children under the age of 6 are very curious and like to explore. It only takes a moment for a small child to find and swallow a poisonous substance. Distractions such as the telephone, doorbell, or cooking something on the stove is more than enough time for a little one to find something to get into. The Poison Control Center is the 9-1-1 for poison emergencies. The national line is toll-free and automatically routes the call to the local Poison Control Center, 1-800-222-1222. The center is staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week with medical professionals; Registered Nurses, Pharmacists, Physicians, and Poison Information Specialists. It is recommended having the 1-800-222-1222 number posted by the home phone (landline) and saved as a favorite in an individual’s cell phone.

Helpful information to have when calling the Poison Control Center:

• Age of the victim
• Weight of the victim
• Existing health conditions or problems
• Substance or product involved, and the type of exposure-swallowed, inhaled, skin contact, or splashed in eyes. You may be asked to read the label exactly to help provide the necessary treatment recommendations.
• Time the exposure occurred
• Any type of first aid given- washed face, flushed eyes with water. The Poison Control Center does not recommend inducing vomiting; it can make the situation worse.
• Any symptoms the victim may have; vomiting, choking, irritation to skin or eyes
• The location and which hospital is nearest

Not all products are labeled correctly to deal with suspected poisonings. An example may be ingestion of dish soap and the recommendation is to drink several glasses of water. Depending on the size of the person ingesting this product can change the recommendations. Small children do not do well drinking several glasses of water at once and may vomit. Some products do not have warning labels; this does not mean the product is safe for ingestion.  Looking up product information on the internet is not always reliable and providing the correct information, an individual’s best opportunity is to call the Poison Control Center.

Button batteries, harmful for small children, elderly, and pets

Have you ever noticed the amount of toys or products that use those small harmless looking button batteries? Those flat silver discs used in toys like remote control cars, musical greeting cards, bathroom scales, watches, flameless candles and many other types of home electronics. Some are lithium batteries in which pose the greatest potential for harm. There is an average of 3,500 button battery ingestions reported annually to Poison Control Centers. Swallowing batteries is not a new trend for children, elderly adults, or pets to ingest. The concern is over the years is the development of stronger, larger lithium cell batteries, increases the risk of potential severe complications to the individual following the ingestion. Most parents and adults are unaware of the potential for danger from these little items.

Deaths from battery ingestions are rare, per the poison center information there were 10 documented deaths in the past 6 years. Small children, elderly adults, and pets may view the battery as candy, medication, or food. The greatest concern is if the battery gets lodged in the esophagus. The battery has low voltage current that can be completed if it comes in contact with the right environment (a throat or esophagus), and cause severe damage; burns, erosions. One of the physicians from the Journal of Pediatrics did a test, he uses a hot dog and inserted a button battery in it to get an idea how it would react. The hot dog casing is similar to the esophagus of a human; the battery cooked the hot dog.

Possible complications from an ingestion of the battery, is the risk of getting lodged in the vocal cords or esophagus. This can cause serious injury to the vocal cords and digestive tract. Depending on the size of the battery the greater the risk, the larger the battery increase chance for serious injuries. The button battery has popular appeal and the manufacturing industry has shifted towards using this more frequently. Federal safety rules require toys that use the batteries to have a battery compartment that requires the use of screws as a deterrent for access to children. Unfortunately there are not such regulations or rules for devices intended for adult use, bathroom scales, watches, greeting cards, flameless candles or other electronic devices.

Children and pets will find the battery loose and ingest it without an adult even being aware. The common age of ingestion in children is 6. Elderly adults can also be at risk for ingestion of a button battery, thinking its medication when in fact it may be a hearing aid battery. There is a 2 hour window following battery ingestion before symptoms may be observed before complications can occur. Once burning occurs the damage may continue even when the battery has been removed. A majority of the time the ingestions are not witnessed. Children have been able to breathe with a disc battery in the airway; it is not an obvious ingestion and the child will not appear in distress. Children or pets may present with symptoms that are nonspecific; coughing, wheezing, vomiting, drooling, and refusing to eat are possible symptoms. This can be diagnosed as something else such as stomach flu or pneumonia. Information for handling ingestion in children, elderly, and pets is similar.

Tips for battery safety

• Search your home, and any place a child has potential to go for any device or gadget that may use disc lithium batteries
• Secure disc lithium battery controlled devices out of sight and reach of small children. Keep loose batteries locked up or in a safe area.
• Pass the information on to family members, babysitters, friends, and caregivers these important tips.

What to do is a disc battery has been ingested

• Go to a local emergency room immediately.  Inform health care providers of your concern that your child may have ingested a disc battery; if possible provide the identification number found on the battery package.
• Do not let the child eat or drink anything until a chest x-ray is completed to determine if a battery is present.
• Do not induce vomiting

For more information contact:

• National Battery Ingestion Hotline at 202-625-3333
• Poison Control Center 1-800-222-1222

Laundry Detergent Pods- a new danger

The newest trend for washing clothes is a detergent “pod”. All the big named manufactures of laundry detergent are developing “Pods”. The convenience and attractiveness of the product is because it is pre-measured, easy to handle, no spills, and the packaging dissolves in the wash to make the task of laundry easier. Unfortunately these convenient pods present a major problem, they are super attractive to small children, the bright colored packet looks like candy and the container looks like a candy jar. The child can view the pod as a toy to be played with or squeezed. The pods can cause a potential risk for the small child that was not foreseen in the process.

Children biting into the detergent pod develop severe vomiting; some children have become unconscious and ended up in the intensive care units. This is not always the case, but the risk is there. The pods contain a concentrated laundry detergent that is very irritated to the eyes, skin, mouth, and throat. Moisture causes the “pod” casing to dissolve, releasing the ingredients into the mouth. The pod breaks and splashes the child in the eye can cause severe eye irritation. The poison control centers have received numerous calls on exposures to these products. Some of the symptoms can be severe requiring hospitalization. Fortunately no children have died from the exposure.

The manufacturers are attempting to make the containers safer for this product safer by adding a safety latch. The recommendation is to keep the product out of reach of children. The responsibility of safe handling and storage falls on the adults in the child’s home as the method of injury prevention.

Prevention:

• Store the container out of reach children
• Make sure the container is closed
• Do not allow children to handle the “pods”
• Educate the child this is not candy or a toy; it is poison

What to do if a child is exposed:

Ingestion:

• Remove the product from the child’s mouth
• Wipe out the child’s mouth with a wet wash cloth
• Wash the child’s face and hands
• Call the poison control center immediately

Eye exposure:

• Rinse the eye gently with luke-warm water for 15 minutes
• Call the poison control center

Poison danger in the home.

Dangers of accidental poisoning in the home, school, or work is one of the greatest risks for children, pets, or other loved ones. The risk of getting injured increases with the risk of access to the products in the environment, no area is completely child proof. Children have the greatest risks for unintentional poisoning in the home, they are smaller, faster, curious, and more susceptible to the toxins in their home or elsewhere. Children have the natural curiosity and desire to explore increase the potential for harm depending on the environment. A small child learning to climb on chairs demonstrates the risk of exposure to poisons on the counter, cupboards, or closets.

What types of poison do children have a tendency to get into? Most common include household and personal care products, medicine, vitamins, and plants. Other concerns can include lead, carbon monoxide, and other environmental factors. The risk of poisoning to the child depends on the packaging, accessibility, availability, formulation, and the toxicity to the product. The risk of injury decreases with parent awareness, education for prevention and safety, and appropriate interventions by contacting the poison control centers and health providers. The risk of injury decreases with child-resistant packaging, product reformation, and increased parent awareness are key factors for reducing the risk of exposure. 

Changes in health care require the need for prevention to reduce the number of unnecessary trips to the emergency room, urgent care, or health care provider. Health care should focus prevention, illness visits, well child visits, yearly physicals and what can be done to promote the health of the individual. Not everyone is fortunate to have insurance to meet these needs, that is why valuable resources such as the Poison Control Center, Ask a Nurse, and Health Coach can help decrease health care expenses. A visit to the emergency room can cause financial hardship on an individual and family

This blog will focus on providing information and direction on information for prevention of accidental poisoning and resources to parents, health care provider, or other individuals with questions. 

Call your local poison control center- 1-800-222-1222, the national hot line number, it will connect the you directly to your local poison control center based on your area code.

Ask for a free information kit (Lit Kit), magnet, stickers, and informative brochures (poison prevention, toxic plants)

One free tidbit- the poison control center provides free information at no charge to your insurance, the information collected is confidential, and used to help make products safer for our children.