Calls to the B.C. poison hotline about ingesting hand sanitizer have increased since the start of the novel coronavirus pandemic.
The Drug & Poison Information Centre (DPIC) at the BC Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) says calls have jumped from less than two a week in January and February to an average of seven per week in April, all involving children under five.
For the same time period, calls about adults being exposed rose from an average of one per week to 3.5 per week. Hand sanitizers have a high alcohol content and the BCCDC says it can cause alcohol poisoning if consumed in large amounts.
Most of the calls have been about accidental ingesting, says the BCCDC, and the exposure has been less than a tablespoon. No one has been