Poisonings caused by disinfectants & hand sanitizer spike during pandemic
SAN ANTONIO – The run on cleaning supplies and hand sanitizer has led to a spike in accidental poisonings.
Fox San Antonio has actually been following this issue for several months. Right around Thanksgiving, we reported how even ingesting a small amount of hand sanitizer is enough to give a small child alcohol poisoning.
Now, a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows the COVID-19 pandemic is linked to a rise in cases.
With hand sanitizer and disinfectants flying off store shelves, more people of all ages but mostly kids are winding up accidentally poisoned by the common household products.
The CDC reports in the first three months of this year, poison control centers nationwide received more than 45,000 calls involving disinfectants. That’s up 20% from the same time frame last year.
In one case cited by the CDC, a toddler went to the emergency room after drinking hand sanitizer, falling and hitting her head. Her blood alcohol level was more than three times the legal limit.
The head of the South Texas Poison Control Center tells us that since the pandemic started, calls here in Texas involving disinfectants are up 149% and calls for both hand sanitizer and bleach are up 70%.
"Really the majority are children five years and younger,” says Dr. Shawn Varney, the center’s medical director.
He says these numbers should be a clear warning to keep bottles out of the reach of children.
"Given that there is a pandemic from the coronavirus and there is a desire to use hand sanitizer frequently, to disinfect our clothing, our mail, the bags that come from the grocery store - we need to be very careful about where we leave these chemicals,” Dr. Varney says.
He also warns that making your own hand sanitizer or mixing chemicals can have dangerous results. One case cited in the national CDC report involved a woman who had a coughing and wheezing fit while washing produce in the sink with diluted bleach, vinegar and hot water.
The South Texas Poison Control Center is part of UT Health San Antonio's Department of Emergency Medicine. Specialists who speak both English and Spanish can be reached around the clock at 1-800-222-1222.
By EMILY BAUCUM