Question from DAVE
My wife and I keep hand sanitizer in the car which we use time to time to clean our kids’ hands.
My six year then told me yesterday that she is asked to use hand sanitizer, what she calls “magic soap”, everyday at school to clean up after recess. Her friend uses it to clean her desk!
My question is whether this level of exposure over time poses any risk to my kids from the chemicals in hand sanitzer?
Debra’s Answer
There is a whole discussion on this blog about hand sanitizer at Q&A: Earth-Friendly Hand Sanitizer. I wouldn’t suggest having children use regular hand sanitizer on a daily basis as it contains alcohol from a petrochemical source to kill germs.
I just found a 100% natural hand santizer the other day in my local natural food store that does not contain alcohol and is safe for children. It’s called Clean Well Hand Sanitizer. The active germ-killing agent is Ingenium(tm), a patented blend of organically-grown essential oils, including thyme. It meets the EPA and FDA standards for germ-killing efficacy.
If it is required for your child to use a hand santizer, perhaps you could suggest a safer, natural hand sanitizer, such as Clean Well or one of the ones mentioned in the earlier post.
