Poisonings by Disinfectants Up Amid Covid-19 Cleaning

Among the lessons: Don’t mix bleach & vinegar, and keep hand sanitizer away from children.

After apparently downing some alcohol-based hand sanitizer recently, a pre-school-aged girl was found unresponsive at her home. She vomited on the way to the emergency room, where her blood-alcohol level was found to be 273 mg/dL, well above the 80 mg/dL that typically defines drunk driving. She was discharged and home 48 hours later after a stay in intensive care.

Meanwhile, an adult woman had heard she should clean vegetables before eating them. She filled the sink with bleach, vinegar and hot water and put the produce in to soak. She ended up in the ER after wheezing, coughing and finding it difficult to breathe. Bleach and vinegar, when mixed, produce chlorine gas, which when inhaled even in small amounts can cause these symptoms. She was given oxygen and medication and discharged a few hours later.

These are just two of many such cases highlighted in a new report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that finds chemical exposures related to cleaning products and disinfectants and resulting in health problems surged in March as Americans were urged to sanitize hands and frequently-touched surfaces in an effort to avoid the…