(ANSA) - ROME, 25 JAN - With the pandemic hand sanitizing gels are used much more and often the dispensers are placed at a height of one meter, which for an average adult corresponds more or less to life while for a baby is high up, at eye level.
This is how, as a consequence, an increase in cases of children with sometimes even serious eye problems related to exposure to dangerous chemicals contained in these products has been documented in France.
A study, led by the Hopital Fondation Adolphe de Rothschild and published in Jama Opthalmology, showed that there were seven times more cases among children of eye exposure to dangerous chemicals in hand sanitizer between April 1 and 24. August 2020, compared to the same period of the previous year (232 compared to 33), according to data from the French Poison Center.
Similarly, 16 children were admitted to a pediatric ophthalmology hospital over the same period, compared with just one boy in 2019. Two severe cases required surgery to transplant corneas.
The hospital cases all concerned children under the age of 4: this is another reason why French researchers believe that the height at which the dispensers are positioned in public places, at the level of the eyes of the little ones, may have had an influence.
In fact, in 2020, 63 cases of exposure to chemicals from sanitizing gels occurred in a public place, while none were reported in 2019. "In all countries - the researchers conclude - caution is required in positioning the dispensers in public places, as well as informative illustrations highlighting the risk of involuntary exposure in children, to prevent further serious eye damage. "
(HANDLE).