Alcohol intoxication among children is increasing, but what causes it?
Georgia Poison Center's recent analysis showed that the calls received by the poison control center hotline across the United States related to hand sanitizer ingestion among children younger than 12 years old increased to nearly 400 percent, according to CNN.
Breaking down the numbers of alcohol intoxication, there were 3,266 reported cases of hand sanitizer ingestion in 2010. In 2014, it increased to 16,117, as per the report of The Market Business.
"Kids are getting into these products more frequently, and unfortunately, there's a percentage of them going to the emergency room," according to Dr. Gaylord Lopez, Director of Georgia Poison Center.
Comparing with wine, which has 12 percent and beer has 5 percent, a single hand sanitizer can reportedly contain 45 percent to 95 percent of alcohol. Dr. Lopez said that ingesting, even if that was a small amount — two or three squirts — can cause alcohol intoxication.
There was reported case of alcohol intoxication recently. Newsweek discovered via CNN that a 6-year-old child was rushed to the emergency severely drunk.
The child was slurring and unable to walk when she arrived at the hospital, after ingesting four squirts of hand sanitizer. When the child was tested, the results revealed a blood-alcohol level of 0.179, which is twice of what is considered as legally drunk in adult.
The report stated that the child ingested the sanitizer because it tasted like strawberry.
Meanwhile, ingesting alcohol-based sanitizers is now becoming a growing trend among teens, News Quench found out. Since there are no restrictions to whom they are being sold, more people are resolving to this method because they are cheap.
The same is what's happening with mouth wash. Teens combine these two substances into a drink and it became so popular that they even have a name for it — "Mr. Clean's Tears."
Alcohol intoxication is very dangerous and life threatening. Dr. Lopez recommended that parents and teachers store the hand sanitizers out of children's reach and monitor its use.
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