Once upon a time there were only a few brands of hand
sanitizer on store shelves. The primary ingredient in hand sanitizer is
alcohol. Most hand sanitizers contain anywhere from 60% to 95% isopropyl or
ethyl alcohol mixed with water and gels like glycerol or glycerin to prevent
the users skin from drying out.
Panic buying over the coronavirus pandemic has led to
sanitizers flying off of the shelves. During the last week of February 2020
hand sanitizer sales were up by 300% over the same week in 2019. The following
week sales shot up 470% compared to the first week of March in 2019.
The shortages of hand sanitizers opened up room on store
shelves for many other new hand sanitizers to fill the void during the coronavirus
pandemic by using other ingredients such as methanol or wood alcohol.
The FDA (Food and Drug Administration) recently identified 87
hand sanitizer products that contain dangerous levels of methanol which can be
toxic when absorbed through the skin or ingested. The list continues to grow. As
consumers are relying on sanitizers more due to covid-19. A majority of the
products appear to have been manufactured in Mexico.
Substantial methanol exposure can result in nausea,
vomiting, headache, blurred vision, permanent blindness, seizures, coma, and
permanent damage to the nervous system or even death.
Many of the product labels claim to contain ethanol (ethyl
alcohol) but have tested positive for methanol contamination. These products
have been widely sold by national retailers such as BJ’s Wholesale Club, Costco
and Walmart.
The complete list of recalled hand sanitizers can be found on
the FDA website https://bit.ly/2WZdZub .
The FDA advises consumers not to use these hand sanitizers.
Sources:
www.foxbusiness.com
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