LOS ANGELES —Local teens are gulping down hand sanitizer to get drunk — and many are landing in emergency departments instead, health experts warned Tuesday.
Though it is a national trend for the past 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.
One small bottle of hand sanitizer contains 60 percent alcohol, or at least 120 proof, said Dr. Cyrus Rangan, a pediatric medical toxicologist with Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.
“That’s like drinking several shots of hard liquor,” Rangan said.
Teens have learned how to separate the alcohol from the rest of the product’s ingredients, said Helen Arbogast, an injury prevention coordinator for Children’s Hospital.
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. Los Angeles Daily News
