BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--In response to over 18,000 incidents of alcohol-based hand sanitizer poisonings, Dr. Andrea Gancarz, educator, dental hygienist and mother of a 6-year-old boy named Andrew, announced the creation of M.A.S.S. (Moms Advocating Safe Sanitizers (www.momsadvocatingss.com)). She says, “We’re all about keeping our children, teens and adults safe from the dangers of alcohol-based hand sanitizers and letting them know there are safer alternatives.”
Dr. Gancarz created M.A.S.S. to bring awareness, focus and to call upon a concerned public to help ban dangerous alcohol-based hand sanitizers. According to the National Poison Data System, in 2012 there were a reported 18,000-plus incidents of alcohol-based hand sanitizer poisonings. “There have been countless reports of fires, attempted poisonings of teachers and adults, and children getting intoxicated from the improper use of these popular alcohol-based products. Clearly if parents knew what’s in these products, they would limit, if not eliminate, their use,” says Dr. Gancarz.
“M.A.S.S. does not endorse a specific non-alcohol based product. We are looking to educate and drive the public to take action in numbers,” said Dr. Gancarz. “The current alcohol-based sanitizers on the market are roughly 70 percent alcohol. That’s the same percentage of alcohol in a 140 proof bottle of alcohol. The concentration of alcohol in a two ounce bottle of alcohol based hand sanitizer is the equivalent of 6 shots of vodka. Add to that the fact that these sanitizers are also highly flammable and may actually dry your skin resulting in cracking and more, not less infection, and you can see the tremendous need to set the record straight.”
“It is important to me and the other active members of M.A.S.S. that people be informed and that we provide an easy way for them to become active. So, if you visit the www.momsadvocatingss.com web site you will find numerous reports about how alcohol-based hand sanitizers have been improperly consumed by children, used for their alcohol content by teenagers, used as a weapon/poison against teachers, parents and others and just how highly combustible they can be. We need to put an end to these dangers and let the public know there are safer, alcohol-free alternatives. So, we’ve created the means to achieve this by developing a petition and series of actionable letter templates that can be used to contact school principals, superintendents, lawmakers and others. It is simple and it will be effective,” said Dr. Gancarz.
For more information about Dr. Gancarz, Moms Advocating Safe Sanitizers and how you can make a difference, please visit www.momsadvocatingss.com.
