LOS ANGELES — Local teenagers are gulping down hand sanitizer to get drunk — and many are landing in emergency departments instead, health experts warned on Tuesday.
Though it is a national trend for the last few years, Los Angeles teenagers have only caught on more recently. There were 16 countywide cases reported to California’s Poison Control since March 1 and 60 statewide since 2010, health officials said.
“This is a rapidly emerging trend,” said Dr. Cyrus Rangan, a pediatric medical toxicologist with Children’s Hospital, who also is director of the county Department of Public Health’s Toxic Epidemiology Program.
One small bottle of hand sanitizer contains 60 percent alcohol, or at least 120 proof, Rangan said.
“That’s like drinking several shots of hard liquor,” Rangan said.
While none of the local cases so far has been fatal, Rangan said the effects of drinking the product are similar to abusing liquor. Too much can prove dangerous, causing coma.
So far, there are no regulations that prohibit those under a certain age from buying sanitizer, such as with other products, but it could happen, Rangan said.
“I would not be surprised if something like that happened down the road,” he said.
Teenagers have learned to separate the alcohol from the rest of the product’s ingredients by using bath salts. They get the information online, said Helen Arbogast, an injury prevention coordinator for Children’s Hospital, where Tuesday’s press conference was held.
While teenagers drink sanitizer to get drunk, younger children will ingest it because the product’s colors may look like juice or something sweet, she said.
“Just a spoonful can cause a problem,” she said. “It’s a concern for us. We’re going to be going to the high schools to talk about it.”
She and others urged parents to be aware of the product, and if possible, to use foam hand sanitizers instead of the gels, to deter teens.
