EUGENE, Ore. - The parents of a Howard Elementary School student said their son had to go to the emergency room after unknowingly ingesting hand sanitizer after it was put into his water bottle at school.
Due to COVID concerns, the parents said students are only allowed to bring their own personal water bottles since water fountains are turned off.
The Principal of Howard Elementary School sent the following message to parents to inform them of the incident:
"We want to let you know about an incident that occurred in your student's class today.
Several students reported that the liquid in their water bottles smelled like hand sanitizer and that they had consumed some of the water. After investigating, we were able to determine that another student had put some hand sanitizer gel in one or more students’ water bottles. All the students in the class dumped the contents of their bottles and washed them out before refilling with water.
We have already spoken with the families of the students who may have drunk water with some hand sanitizer in it. Because they may have consumed an unknown amount of hand sanitizer, it was recommended they seek medical evaluation.
It is important for students and families to know that while hand sanitizer is safe for hands, it is not safe to ingest. If you ever have reason to believe your child may have consumed something harmful, contact Poison Control right away for advice.
We are continuing to investigate this event and taking appropriate follow-up actions."
The child spent four hours at the hospital, but he is not expected to suffer any serious health issues.
The mother of this student believes it was a prank by another student who didn't understand the possible impact of their actions. She said she's more worried about the schools' response than the action of the child, and alleges that some parents were not notified.
“We all do stupid stuff like that, but it's the breakdown in communication with the school. It's the lack of notification, and the breakdown of safety in the classroom,” the mother said.