Hand sanitizer risks (3-30-20)

Hand sanitizer has quickly become a valuable product due to covid-19 there are some hazards the public needs to be warry of.

Kq2's kilee thomas joins us in studio to tell us about the dangers of hand sanitizer.

This everyday product is seen as a must have product these daysbusinesses placing bottles on every counter, families selling stores clean outbut healthcare professionals say they're some hand sanitizer hazards we need to be aware of hand sanitizer is flying off the shelves during this public health emergency.

Leaving many people wondering if they should make their own.

Local health professionals say that's a bad idea"the percentages and measurements are extremely important to be accurate and that's why we're comfortable doing it, but the general public probably should avoid it because everything needs to be mixed in the correct order and you also have to follow several different guidelines, including quality control."

Rogers pharmacy makes their own hand sanitizerthey say the process is complex and require pharmacy grade ingredients you can't find at your local grocery store"the acquired recommended amount of alcohol content in order to be effective is extremely high so it's not easy to just make or find the ingredients for it."

Fda says if homemade hand sanitizer is made incorrectly, it's not only ineffective, but can cause skin burnsfda advises keep out of reach of children "if you've got something like this in your purse or in a diaper bag and gets ahold of it and consumes all of it, so that's the equivalent of doing like 4 shots.

Obviously, we don't want kids doing that, so for that reason, it's best used to also use non scented hand sanitizers so it's not as appealing to kids."

Health educators say the number one rule for parents who use hand sanitizer...monito r your child's use.

The f-d-a says because hand sanitizer bottles are are brightly colored, kids may confuse it as a drink.

During the covid-19 pandemic, poison control centers have seen an increase in calls due to the accidental ingestion of hand sanitizer if your child may have ingested hand sanitizer, health professionals say to call the 24/7 poison control help center... 1800-222-1222