Beware: Rising Trend of Hand Sanitizers Containing Poisonous Methanol
As Coronavirus continues to be a looming threat, companies that do not typically make hand sanitizer have been producing hand sanitizer and other products to assist the United States facing shortages of essential items. Because of the companies switching production, contamination of newly produced products is on the rise, such as hand sanitizer containing methanol, a wood alcohol that can be poisonous. The most recent recall was made on July 6, 2020, of ITECH 361 All Clean Hand Sanitizer, Moisturizer and Disinfectant sold in one liter bottles. 18,940 bottles of the hand sanitizer containing ethanol were sold before the recall, with UPC code 628055370130. No illnesses have been reported as of date. Using hand sanitizer that contains methanol may result in nausea, vomiting, headache, blurred vision, seizures, coma, permanent damage to the nervous system, such as permanent blindness, or death. While those that use this recalled hand sanitizer topically are at risk, those who ingest the product, such as children who accidentally consume it or people who intentionally consume the hand sanitizer in place of alcohol, are at increased risk for methanol poisoning. Any questions or concerns can be answered by Corina Enriquez at 888-405-4442, Monday through Friday from 9am-5pm or by email at [email protected].
Previous incidents with methanol poisoning from hand sanitizer include: All-Clean Hand Sanitizer, Esk Biochem Hand Sanitizer, Lavar 70 Gel Hand Sanitizer, The Good Gel Antibacterial Gel Hand Sanitizer, CleanCare NoGerm Advanced Hand Sanitizer 80% and 75% Alcohol, and Saniderm Advanced Hand Sanitizer from Eskbiochem SA de CV of Mexico; bio aaa Advance Hand Sanitizer, LumiSkin Advance Hand Sanitizer 4 oz and 16 oz, and QualitaMed Hand Sanitizer from AAA Cosmetica of Mexico; Hand sanitizer Gel Unscented 70% Alcohol from Grupo Insoma; Bersih Hand Sanitizer Gel Fragrance Free and Antiseptic Alcohol 70% Topical Solution hand sanitizer from Soluciones Cosmeticas SA de CV of Mexico; Mystic Shield Protection hand sanitizer from Transliquid Technologies of Mexico; and Britz Hand Sanitizer Ethyl Alcohol 70% from Tropicosmeticos SA de CV of Mexico. Multiple reports of illnesses have been reported and anyone experiencing symptoms linked to the recalled hand sanitizers can be sent to the FDA.
