Hand Sanitizer & Children

Children are constantly touching objects and interacting with other children, passing on bacteria, fungi and even viruses as they go. When clean running water and soap are not available to help combat these potentially dangerous micro-organisms, parents often turn to other methods of cleansing, such as hand sanitizer. You should understand both the benefits and potential dangers of sanitizers before allowing your child to use them.

How it Works

Hand sanitizers work by preventing the spread of hand to mouth diseases. Most hand sanitizers use an alcohol-based formula, which, above 60 percent, can kill off most bacteria and viruses. Sanitizers may include various types of alcohol, including ethyl alcohol, ethanol or isopropanol. The alcohol goes to work on contact, using the friction of your child rubbing his hands together to spread the alcohol across the entire surface of the hands. Some alcohol-free hand sanitizers use plant-based disinfectants like benzalkonium chloride.

Benefits for Children

Because children often touch their hands to their mouths and physically interact with both objects and the children around them, hand sanitizers help combat micro-organisms without having to go to a sink. Stopping micro-organisms helps limit the types of diseases that are spread from hand to mouth,possibly reducing how often your child gets sick. The portability of hand sanitizers also allows you to bring them in car rides, on camping trips, and to other locations that may not have running water and soap available. Hand sanitizers do not prevent diseases passed through the air.

Dangers

One of the primary dangers for children is the high alcohol content of hand sanitizers. Children who swallow sanitizer can be poisoned by the substance depending on how much they consume. In fact, in 2006 alone, 11,914 calls to poison control related to ethyl alcohol based hand sanitizers; 9,607 of those calls were related to children under age 6, according to the American Association of Poison Control Centers. As such, adults should always control a child's hand sanitizer use, and sanitizers should be kept in a location that is not accessible to younger children.

Recommendations

Look for hand sanitizers with between 60 and 95 percent alcohol content to ensure there is enough to kill off common bacteria and viruses, suggests Elaine Larson, a professor at Columbia University School of Nursing. Hand sanitizers should not replace soap and water when it's available. Washing hands appropriately with soap and running clean water is still a better option for controlling the spread of micro-organisms than a hand sanitizer.