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SCHOOL PRINCIPALS HAVE outlined how they were forced to close today after the Department of Education issued a notice last night that a brand of hand sanitiser being used in schools had been recalled.
It was warned that prolonged use of such a sanitiser – containing methanol rather than ethanol – may cause dermatitis, eye irritation, upper respiratory system irritation and headaches.
Principals around the school weren’t told until late last night about the issue and, for those schools that had a significant supply of this product – and no immediate access to an alternative – they were not able to open today.
Speaking to RTÉ Radio 1′s Today with Claire Byrne, Professor Anne Looney who chairs St Patrick’s Boys National School in Drumcondra said she had found herself googling Woodies last night to try source an alternative supply.
She said: “I knew that probably local schools would be able to help. They’d been in touch this morning but there was too much uncertainty and this was actually dress up day in school so there was a slightly higher level of risk and the importance of having the sanitizer in place for every boy and every staff member coming in so getting that certainty – we couldn’t give that.
“Then on balance given the level of risk and the need to give certainty we made the decision to close.”
Schools were asked to follow the advice of the Department of Agriculture to cease using the hand sanisiter last night. The supplier of this product was one of 11 suppliers on the multi supplier framework for PPE for education settings.
“On Friday, 23 October, schools that are impacted by this can make local arrangements to purchase stocks of hand sanitisers and can maximise the use of hand washing to support necessary hand hygiene,” the Department of Education said.
“If a school that is impacted judges it necessary to do so, they can choose to close for the day or close early on Friday, 23 October,” it said.
If a school has difficulty sourcing replacement hand sanitiser, they are being asked to contact the Department on the Covid-19 helpline and email address supplied to schools.
The Department of Agriculture had this week issued a product recall ViraPro hand sanitiser, citing “possible public health concerns”. On its biocidal product register, the department said it had set a date of Tuesday 20 October for the remaining product to be used or withdrawn from use.
Also speaking to Claire Byrne today, Tim Ó Tuachaigh from Gaelscoil Ros Eo in Rush said he was informed of the situation just before 11pm last night.
“It seems that everything we use in the school is going to be affected by this,” he said. “To get something in for [8.30am] in the morning… because we were using this product in the school you can actually smell it in the air. I couldn’t get that out of the school in time for opening.”
He said he was aware children’s hearts would be broken as they would have turned up to school dressed up for Halloween in school.
TheJournal.ie has asked the Department of Education how many schools did not open today as a result of this product recall. No response was received at the time of publication.
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Second lockdown with no exit strategy, bogus & dangerous hand sanitiser recalled after being given to school children for 2 months, Tracing system collapse, mother & baby home records being hidden away. When does the revolution begin?
@David Lee: slight over reaction
@David Lee: when they shut the off licence!
@David Lee: when you change out of your boxers and put down the bowl of coco pops
Surely there were options other than closing. Like asking children to bring their own sanitisers or using soap and water which is meant to be more effective.
@Critical Thinker: schools want to hammer home the case now that they should close and couldn’t be bothered with a common sense approach
@Sally: They were told to close by the Department, Ireland is a litigious society. Schools are already broke, a claim is something they don’t want. There is no common sense when mammy is going to sue because little darling has sore hands. Give it a bloody rest with the school and teacher bashing, no one wants the schools to close.
@TheHeathen: that’s interesting and as a pragmatic, solution-focused person, I didn’t think of litigation. So, once more, measures being taken are due to underlying systemic failures in society.
@TheHeathen: yes they do. Anyone who thinks there’s no link between higher cases and schools opening are either very naive or very stu-pid.
@Franny Ando: I never said there was no link, I just said that people involved in education want the best for the students and don’t want to close. Shut down was a disaster for everyone involved in the education sector… students, teachers, parents, other staff, everyone. We want proper, consistent advice on close contacts and tracing, we do not want to shut down. No spokesperson for educators has ever said this, no matter what commentators say on here, we just want consistent advice and procedures from the HSE.
@Critical Thinker: That’s a gracious response. I can tell you so many issues in schools, from falls, slips, wet floors, cuts, grazes, burns, equipment, all sports, you name it, there is sadly always litigation hanging over us and what we do. To the detriment of the students and having fun.
@TheHeathen: They weren’t told to close by the Department they were told they could close if they had to.
How hard was it to take the existing sanisiters out of use by taping them up or something similar and getting down to the nearest supermarket to buy enough sanisiter to get them through the day like many other schools did?
Then they’d have over a week to sort the issue out long term.
Sorting the issue out short term today was going to have zero affect on whether someone is going to sue or not as any damage is already done.
@Stanley Marsh: The product was recalled on Tuesday, schools were only told last night at 11. Fair play if you could have sorted that out by eight in the morning, we were lucky to have many different products. As for litigation, we have had calls from parents about hands and headaches, if damage is done after issue is highlighted, solicitors are called.
@TheHeathen: A really sad indictment of what we have created. And before people start pointing fingers at a cohort they believe are milking this, remember how members of fg recently tried to profit from this both as claimants and legal advisors.
@TheHeathen: Many schools did sort it out by this morning and opened.
If they could do it….
And how could damage be done after the issue is highlighted if the sanisiter has been taken out of use, again as it has in the schools that have opened?
For some there’s a solution to every problem but for others there’s a problem for every solution.
Talk about drama, one more day wouldn’t have done them any more harm, they have been using this for months, the disappointment to the children was uncalled for.
@Nan: disappointment !!! Its one day they are starting mid term. I think they just might survive:)
This country is an absolute joke!
@FluffyGoFluffy: yet people are happy enough to pump alcohol into their system. Calm yourself down, it’s precautionary and extremely unlikely to do any harm
@FluffyGoFluffy: it’s a fair synopsis that things are going to only get worse
@FluffyGoFluffy: why? Who produced it? Who recalled it? What do you think they should have done instead?
@ChuckE: my children don’t pump alcohol into their system. This hand sanitiser should have been checked to be safe before it was pumped into our schools.
@FluffyGoFluffy: checked by whom?
@ChuckE: My sons hands are in bits cracked bleeding etc we told him last week not to use the hand sanitizer in school anymore so yes it can harm some people.
@Cian Martin: the FBI or the CIA
@ChuckE: the problem is methanol. We drink ethannol. They are different chemicals. Methanol can cause harm
Soap?
I suggest people look up Methanol Safety data sheet provided by manufacturers of the methanol before use. Here is a quick summary of the chemical safety data sheet:
It belongs to: Category 2 – Highly flammable liquid and vapor
Acute toxicity (oral) Category 3 – Toxic if swallowed
Acute toxicity (dermal) Category 3 – Toxic in contact with skin
Acute toxicity (inhalation) Category 3 – Toxic if inhaled
Specific target organ toxicity (single exposure)
Its a health hazard category 1
Causes damage to organs (liver, kidneys, central nervous system, optic nerve)
(Dermal, oral)
Most important symptoms and effects, both acute and delayed:
Poison. Toxic by ingestion, absorption through skin and inhalation, potentially causing irreversible effects. Irritating to eyes, skin and respiratory tract. May be fatal or cause blindness if swallowed. Cannot be made non-poisonous. Toxic: danger of very serious irreversible effects by inhalation, ingestion or ABSORPTION THROUGH SKIN. experiments have shown reproductive toxicity on lab animal. May cause adverse kidney and liver effects.
Once I saw methanol as an ingredient on one of the hand sanitisers in the shop – I put the product down and from there on I refuse to use shop provided hand sanitisers if I can’t see the ingredient list. Methanol is a teratogen making it very dangerous for pregnant women as the molecules can cross the placenta and damage the fetus.
So please be aware of methanol based hand sanitisers. Carry an ethanol based one with you when going out. A message to the shops, please provide ingredients of the santisers on the dispensing stations so people can feel safe using it. This is serious.
This product got approval here for use. Now how about checking what exactly was in the product when it got approval and checking what is in the product now that it shouldn’t be used. I’m sure that there is a difference due to the increasing prices of ethanol.
If this is found to be the case then the government are not to blame. They approved a correct product at the time. If the ingredients are changed by the manufacturer and the manufacturer / supplier does not request re-approval then the government are not to blame. Blame the manufacturer and make them take the product off the market and compensate all those involved.
@Gerard Kellett: methanol in it instead of ethanol I think?
You couldn’t make this bs if you tried! Why can’t they use soap and water like WHO advise?
Crazy,using it for one more day wouldn’t have made a difference, the disappointment to the kids was uncalled for.
The fact that schools can order hand sanitiser in bulk without having a clue what they’re buying is ridiculous. Why isn’t the department of health telling the department of education what hand sanitiser schools should be using? Or even better sourcing it for them?
@Billy: ‘The supplier of this product was one of 11 suppliers on the multi supplier framework for PPE for education settings.’ …. Did you even read the article?
@TheHeathen: I spent more time reading the article than the department of education spent reading the ingredients on hand sanitiser.
My daughters school was informed like them all at just before 11pm. We were given the option to take her out early xx
@Niamh Hand: thanks for the kisses
@eoin carroll: Sure it’s the only safe way to kiss now xx
@Niamh Hand: I appreciate the kisses too, nicer than some of the abuse you can get on here. Oooooo
Products get recalled all the time it’s a manufacturing issue no ones else’s. They could have just used soap and water and had the kids wash their hands more today instead of cancelling their halloween fun.
Where else would you get it, you couldn’t make this up. The whole thing and government is a joke .
I googled Woodies…we all have our kinks
Today was dress up day in school and a
Party in their little pod, having to tell my daughter that their was no school today caused about 4 hours of melt downs, I was half delighted…half! That she really understood she was having a dress up day, unfortunately trying to explain to her why they decided to shut the school was too complicated. I think it could of been avoided, she could of brought her own, used soap. That’s an extra day on mid term, I’m left feeling they will pull a fast one and not reopen.
Ah sure it did the job. And what about soap and water. Storm in a teacup.
The only enzyme in your body that can process methanol is found your retinas. Once processed it changes it yo formaldehyde. Formaldehyde plus eyes equals blindness.
Methanol is used to denatured the alcohol so that people cannot drink it to get sloshed. It is allowed up to 5% by the EU but it seems Virapro had much higher levels than this.
http://www.sanitycares.com Irish made and certified.
So Glad that my kids school had the cop on to just go to tesco & buy new hand wash .
Any excuse is been used by some teachers to get schools closed
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