Alcohol-based hand sanitiser – safe use and storage

• Hand sanitiser must only be used on hands. It must not be applied to other parts of the body.
• Stop using if skin irritation or rash occurs. Seek medical advice if skin irritation persists or worsens.
• Avoid putting hand sanitiser near, or in, your eyes. If this happens, rinse eyes with water for a few minutes. Seek medical advice if irritation persists.
• Always monitor children and anyone with learning or memory difficulties while they use hand sanitiser to avoid it getting in the eyes or accidental swallowing.

Symptoms of poisoning include:

• intoxication
• dizziness
• nausea
• hypoventilation (shallow breathing)
• in severe cases, seizures.

Children

• Hand sanitiser can be harmful to young children if swallowed even in small amounts. Less than a teaspoon can result in symptoms of poisoning.

Adults

• Seek advice if an adult accidentally (or intentionally) swallows more than a few mouthfuls of hand sanitiser.

Who do I call?

• Call the Poisons Information Centre for advice on 13 11 26 (24 hours, 7 days a week), or seek advice from your doctor.
• If symptoms are severe call triple zero (000) for an ambulance.

• Store out of reach of children, anyone with learning or memory difficulties or pets when not being used to avoid accidental swallowing or from getting hand sanitiser in the eyes.
• Many hand sanitisers must be stored at below 25° – do not store hand sanitiser in the car or anywhere where it will get too hot.
• Hand sanitiser is flammable (can catch fire) so don’t store it next to heat sources, sparks or open flames. Instead, store in a cool, well ventilated place.
• Store away from food preparation or food storage areas.
• Take extra care if you store larger-sized containers (500 mL or more) at home for decanting (pouring from one container to another) and refilling smaller containers. This is not recommended, however, if you do:
  • do not smoke when decanting and do it in a well-ventilated area so the hand sanitiser does not catch fire
  • the container you are pouring hand sanitiser into must be clean otherwise there is a risk of contaminating the hand sanitiser
  • never place alcohol hand sanitiser in containers that may be mistaken for a food or drink container – label smaller containers as per the original product label to avoid mistaking this liquid for water, alcohol for consumption, or other beverages.