BOSTON -- Children ingesting small amounts of hand sanitizers have already led to more than 250 calls to the poison control center in Boston alone so far this year.

Team 5 Investigates’ Susan Wornick reported Sunday that the popular sanitizers, which many parents have around the house or in diaper bags because they have children, can pose a significant health hazard.

“I thought that germ stuff was yummy,” said Sydney Moe, a bubbly 3 year old from Minnesota. “It tasted like soap.”

“Sydney was up in the bathroom less than a minute. That’s how quickly it happened,” said her mom, Jennifer Moe.

Syndney is fine now, but her family endured a terrifying ordeal when she swallowed just a small amount of hand sanitizer. Within minutes, the toddler started to slur her words and stumble and appeared to be drunk. Her mother called the poison control hot line.

“The gentleman at poison control said you need to take her to the emergency room immediately,” said Moe. She said he went on to say, “There’s 63 percent alcohol in those hand sanitizer products and they can be very dangerous to children.”

63 percent alcohol content is the equivalent to 120-proof alcohol.

The trip to the ER confirmed that Sydney's alcohol blood level was .10. She was legally drunk.

“It was so scary,” said her mother. “Things just flash through your mind. I thought, ‘Is she going to be OK? Is she going to make it?’”

Team 5 Investigates discovered this was not an isolated case. Experts warn that products like hand sanitizers are potentially poisonous, and the subject of hundreds, if not thousands, of reports annually.

Our investigation led Team 5 Investigates to the state's poison control hot line where, since January 2007, there have been at least 250 incidents involving hand sanitizers. Few of those incidents in which children ingested sanitizer resulted in trips to the hospital.

Dr. Fred Aleguas, of poison control, said “the issue is, because it does contain alcohol, is that with young children alcohol can cause their blood sugar to drop.”

And according to Aleguas, ingesting even a small amount can be potentially toxic to a young child. He says the average 2 year old would need only about one or two teaspoonsful to become ill.

The warnings from hand sanitizer manufacturers are clear on the packaging, stating that “Children should be supervised.” Germ X has a similar warning, “Keep out of reach of children.”

But, Wornick reported, that may be a challenge. While most hazardous household dangers are kept locked away, hand sanitizers are everywhere. Most people buy them because they have children, and the manufacturers have made them with bright colors which can be very attractive to children.

“They make them fun-looking,” said Linda McGeachie, a pre-school teacher in Needham. “The colors are interesting to them, and (they’re) shiny. They have bubbles in them.”

Team 5 Investigates took several hand sanitizers to a Needham day care center. Our little experts confirmed the pumps are fun and easy to use. They worked for every single child who tried one.

“If it’s not an item for a child to be playing with then it should be … childproof,” McGeachie said.