For months now, people have been vigorously washing their hands and lathering themselves down in hand sanitizer, but the FDA has a new warning for consumers. As people have rushed stores to strip shelves of hand sanitizer, the Food and Drug Administration claims that there are as many as 87 store-bought items that contain a chemical that has the potential to be toxic.
The FDA claims that while many hand sanitizers show on their ingredient listing that they contain ethanol, testing has concluded they actually contain methanol. The FDA released a statement saying: "Methanol is not an acceptable ingredient for hand sanitizers and must not be used due to its toxic effects."
The administration's website has a list of these potentially harmful hand sanitizers—some that are even being sold at stores like Walmart and Target. "The agency issued a further warning earlier this month about an increasing number of adverse events, including blindness, cardiac effects, effects on the central nervous system, and hospitalizations and death, primarily reported to poison control centers and state departments of health. The agency continues to see these figures rise," the FDA penned on their website.
Products include Blumen, Herbacil, Saniderm, CleanCare, Urbane Bath & Body, Optimus, Kleanz, Be Safe, and dozens more. You can check out the full list here.
[via]
