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Poison Control Centers Report Kids Are Getting Plastered Off Of Hand Sanitizer [VIDEO]

Steve Guest Media Reporter
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Poison control hotlines are reporting a 400 percent increase in calls related to children younger than 12 getting drunk off ingesting hand sanitizer, CNN reports.

According to Dr. Gaylord Lopez, director of the Georgia Poison Center, hand sanitizer alcohol content ranges from 45 percent to 95 percent. As little as two or three squirts, in some cases, of hand sanitizer can lead to alcohol poisoning. By comparison, wine contains about 12 percent alcohol and beer contains about 5 percent alcohol by volume, according to CNN.

Six-year-old Nhaijah Russell ingested three or four squirts of strawberry flavored hand sanitizer at school, which lead to a blood-alcohol level of .179. Russell had to go to the emergency room and spend the nigh under observation according Dr. Chris Ritchey, because the alcohol had caused Russell to fall and hit her head.

According to Dr. Lopez, 3,266 cases of hand sanitizer ingestion related to young children were reported to poison control centers in 2010. In 2014, the number increased to 16,117 cases.

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