- Home
- » e-Newsletters
Alcohol intoxication and hand sanitizers
Lab Safety Advisor, June 12, 2007
On May 14, 2007, Fox 23-TV in Tulsa, OK reported that a 4 year old girl was hospitalized with symptoms of intoxication after ingesting a small amount of hand sanitizer in her pre-kindergarten classroom. The product, which is 62% ethyl alcohol, had been applied to the children's hands by their teacher just before lunchtime. Instead of rubbing it in, the girl licked it off her skin and essentially got drunk.
This is not an isolated incident. Similar incidents have been reported by the Chicago Tribune Health Blog, May 22; WCCO-TV News (Minneapolis), January 20; WebMD, January 31.
The Minnesota Poison Control Center warns that the high alcohol content of hand sanitizers and other common household products such as mouthwash and perfumes can pose a serious health threat to children. Some hand sanitizers contain isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol instead of ethyl alcohol, making them even more dangerous to ingest.
What does this have to do with the laboratory? Make sure all hand sanitizers are placed high enough out of a toddler's reach in the phlebotomy drawing area.
Most Popular
- Articles
-
- Q/A: Volume requirement for reporting hydration services
- Featured blog post: Nurses face felony charges after reporting physician to the Texas Medical Board
- Catch up on what's new with injections and infusions
- Topic: CMS, OESS post new security compliance review information, checklist
- What does case-mix index mean to you?
- QA:Coding multiple initial infusions
- Capturing all necessary codes for IUD insertion and removal can be challenging
- News and briefs: Oklahoma Osteopathic Association against residency bill change
- OB services: Coding inside and outside of the package
- HIPAA Q&A: Level of encryption needed for email
- E-mailed
-
- Q/A: Volume requirement for reporting hydration services
- Featured blog post: Nurses face felony charges after reporting physician to the Texas Medical Board
- Catch up on what's new with injections and infusions
- New conflicts of interest create new challenges
- What does case-mix index mean to you?
- Joint Commission Center announces handoff communication solutions
- Inside best practice: Reduce patient falls with a stoplight
- Identify modifiable risk factors to prevent patient falls
- Hospitalist-surgeon comanagement has no effect on outcomes
- HIPAA Q&A: Level of encryption needed for email
- Searched