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Jul 16, 2023

FDA lists 59 hand sanitizers that can be toxic if absorbed by the body after expanding initial list

The Food and Drug Administration has expanded a list of hand sanitizers that it

The Food and Drug Administration has expanded a list of hand sanitizers that it says contain methanol, a toxic substance that could ultimately result in death of absorbed through the skin or ingested and is therefore are unsafe for human use. The warning of products includes those that claim to have ethanol, or ethyl alcohol, which is safe to use, but which test positive for methanol.

Here's a list of the full 59 products that the FDA says it identified in what the agency describes as a continuing investigation into hand-sanitizer products that are "contaminated with methanol that has led to recent adverse events including blindness, hospitalizations and death."

Here's a full list as it stands so far:

The updated FDA statement comes after the agency last month issued a warning on nine alcohol-based hand sanitizers manufactured by Eskbiochem SA de CV in Mexico that it said contained wood methanol.

"Consumers who have been exposed to hand sanitizer containing methanol should seek immediate treatment, which is critical for potential reversal of toxic effects of methanol poisoning," the FDA wrote on June 19.

"Substantial methanol exposure can result in nausea, vomiting, headache, blurred vision, permanent blindness, seizures, coma, permanent damage to the nervous system or death," the report indicated. The agency said the risk of possible ingestion centered mostly on young children or adolescents who might use alcohol-based sanitizers as a substitute for grain alcohol.

Demand for hand sanitizer across the globe has increased as the coronavirus has spread, infecting about 13 million people, with 3.3 million in the U.S. alone, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Back in March, a number of retailers, including Costco Wholesale Corp. COST, +1.10%, BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings Inc. BJ, +0.83% and Kroger Co. KR, +0.50%, reported surging sales in hand-cleaning products and other sanitizing merchandise. In the week ending April 25, Nielsen said hand sanitizer saw the highest in-store week-over-week growth.

Individuals have even taken to attempting to make their own hand sanitizer; however, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said that washing hands with plain soap and water is the best way to kill the novel strain of coronavirus that causes COVID-19.

Moreover, hand sanitizer requires at least 60% alcohol. Alcohol dissolves the lipid membrane and disrupts other supramolecular interactions in viruses but you need a fairly high concentration of the alcohol to get a rapid dissolution of the virus. Vodka or whiskey—usually 40% ethanol—won't dissolve the virus as quickly. "Overall, alcohol is not as good as soap at this task," wrote Palli Thordarson, a professor at the School of Chemistry at the University of South Wales, Sydney in a column for MarketWatch in April.

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Mark DeCambre is MarketWatch's Editor in Chief. He is based in New York. Follow him on Twitter @mdecambre.