Seems safe and even healthy to use especially since it is found, well…everywhere. In two San Fernando Valley emergency rooms within the last few months, six teenagers were found to have experienced alcohol poisoning from drinking hand sanitizer and the public has taken notice. One can find directions on how to use salt to separate the alcohol out on the internet. The result is a drink comparable to a shot of liquor. Because hand sanitizer is 62% ethyl alcohol it can make a 120-proof drink. So a two ounce bottle = 4 shots of vodka. “All it takes is just a few swallows and you have a drunk teenager,” Cyrus Rangan, Director of the Toxics Epidemiology Program at the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, told the Los Angeles Times. “There is no question that it is dangerous.” There is concern that it may become a trend much like cough medicine.
One way to remedy the problem is to purchase foam sanitizer, as it is more difficult to separate out the alcohol. Side effects of intoxication are much like those of alcohol. Thus, like alcohol one can have poisoning and it can be fatal. After just a few drinks one may need to be monitored by medical professionals.