Hand sanitizers are the latest household item teenagers are using to get intoxicated, health officials warn, and the practice poses a serious health risk since the easily-obtained cleansing agent packs a potent punch.
“This is a rapidly emerging trend,” Dr. Cyrus Rangan, medical toxicology consultant for Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, said at an April 24 news conference.
Six Los Angeles teenagers were recently hospitalized after downing the potent brew, according to several news reports. Liquid hand sanitizers comprises 62-65 percent ethyl alcohol, making it 120-proof. Comparatively, a shot of hard liquor such as whiskey or vodka is typically 80-proof.
Teenagers sometimes use salt to distill the sanitizers, making them more powerful. Online tutorials offer step-by-step instructions on this process.
“All it takes is just a few swallows and you have a drunk teenager,” Dr. Cyrus Rangan, director of the toxicology bureau for the county public health department and a medical toxicology consultant for Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, told The Los Angeles Times. “There is no question that it is dangerous.”
Slurred speech, unresponsiveness and possible coma are some of the side effects of imbibing this intoxicating liquid, doctors said. And Rangan warned that long-term use could lead to brain, liver and kidney damage.
Officials are warning parents to be vigilant since the inexpensive liquid is so easily accessible. Parents should treat hand sanitizers “like we treat any medication in the home as far as safety is concerned. Keep it out of reach, out of sight, out of mind when not in use,” Rangan said.
Dr. Sean Nordt, director of toxicology at the USC Los Angeles County Emergency Department, told ABC News that store owners should also be on alert.
“Most stores will sell it to an adolescent without thinking twice,” Nordt told ABC News. “Maybe now they will.”