Toxic Hand Sanitizers
DCARA has important information to share with the community.
[Image description: Ian Sanborn is wearing a black beret and blue buttoned blouse. He’s standing in front of a window with light-colored closed curtains as a background.]
[Start Message]
Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, many people like you have been buying hand sanitizer products to keep your hands germ-free, that’s great!
HOWEVER – heads up! Some of the products you buy might not be safe for you at all! Why?
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warned there has been a sharp increase in the number of hand sanitizer products that are labeled to contain ethanol, a safe type of alcohol, but have tested positive for methanol, a toxic type of alcohol.
Methanol is not a suitable ingredient for hand sanitizers and can prove toxic when absorbed through the skin or ingested. Too much exposure to methanol can result in nausea, vomiting, headache, blurred vision, permanent blindness, seizures, coma, permanent damage to the nervous system, or death.
There are now 59 varieties of hand sanitizers in the FDA’s updated list of toxic products. All of the sanitizers flagged by the FDA appear to have been produced in Mexico.
Please click on the link in the video description or transcript to visit the FDA’s website for a full list of hand sanitizer products to avoid:
https://www.fda.gov/drugs/drug-safety-and-availability/fda-updates-hand-sanitizers-methanol#products
Some of the products have already been recalled and others are being recommended for recalls.
Federal health agencies recommend washing your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. If it’s not possible to wash your hands, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends using an alcohol-based hand sanitizer that contains at least 60 percent ethanol.
[End Message]
[Message Source]