Hand Sanitizer & Child Safety

Ok, maybe I misunderstand how blood-alcohol levels are measured, it seems a little extreme to suggest that just a small amount of hand sanitiser would be lethal, even to a small child...

I carry a small bottle (85mL) with me all the time. Even if a child drank the full bottle, at 60% alcohol as labelled, that would mean the child would ingest around 51mL of pure alcohol (60% of 85mL). The average adult has around 3L of blood, assuming a child had only 1L of blood and that all the alcohol entered directly into their bloodstream, it would only be 51mL in 1000mL, or 0.051% - only just over the legal driving limit for a driver on an unrestricted licence.

Even if my calculations are overly simplistic, we all have chemicals in our homes/cars that would be lethal if a child to drank them, so we keep them out of the reach of children - just put your hand sanitizer in a high-level cupboard.

Don't throw it all away just yet, or if you do, throw it my way!

The report is fair enough.

The Aqium we have at work is 66% alcohol and comes in 375ml bottles or bigger. That's a heap of alcohol - must be at least 20 standard drinks. Push top makes it dead easy for a small child to dispense.

Why would anyone bother having this stuff in their house???? Are some people that paranoid about bacteria that normally inhabit our skin? Have they forgotten about how we build up immunity.

I work in a hospital, and its imprortant that we prevent cross-infection, so hand washing and products such as Aqium are vital. But there is no need to have this stuff hanging around the home. I take it on desert trips so we don't waste water, but we don't have kids on our trips either.

It's medically proven that the most efficient way of cleaning and removing bugs/germs is with water and soap. When in the bush, perhaps away from water supplies it is important to maintain hygiene. I am inclined to make available a water supply for personal hygiene under such circumstances. If you choose to use liquid soap (soap in a bottle - lathers up easier than bar soap - requires less water) make sure you DON'T get one with anti-bacterial in it. Not good for your long term health as it can lead to destruction of the body's natural ability to fight infection(s). Hand sanitizers might be OK for occasional use only.

Believe it or not Vinegar is a natural anti-septic - I only ever use vinegar and Bi-Carb to clean the shower ect in the van and if needed hands. We do carry the hand sanitizer however hardly ever use it

Cheers
Caz