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Toxic Hand Sanitizers Have Blinded and Killed Adults and Children, FDA Warns

posted by martyb on Wednesday July 08 2020, @01:42AM   
from the friends-don't-let-friends-drink-hand-sanitizers dept.

Freeman writes:

https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/07/toxic-hand-sanitizers-have-blinded-and-killed-adults-and-children-fda-warns/

Adults and children in the United States have been blinded, hospitalized, and, in some cases, even died after drinking hand sanitizers contaminated with the extremely toxic alcohol methanol, the Food and Drug Administration reports.

In an updated safety warning, the agency identified five more brands of hand sanitizer that contain methanol, a simple alcohol often linked to incorrectly distilled liquor that is poisonous if ingested, inhaled, or absorbed through the skin.
[...]
The newly identified products are as follows:

• Hand sanitizer Gel Unscented 70% Alcohol, made by Grupo Insoma, S.A.P.I de CV (Mexico)
• Mystic Shield Protection hand sanitizer, made by Transliquid Technologies (Mexico)
• Berish Hand Sanitizer Gel Fragrance Free, made by Soluciones Cosmeticas SA de CV (Mexico)
• Antiseptic Alcohol 70% Topical Solution hand sanitizer, made by Soluciones Cosmeticas SA de CV (Mexico)
• Britz Hand Sanitizer Ethyl Alcohol 70%, made by Tropicosmeticos SA de CV (Mexico)

The full list of product codes can be found here.

Previously:
(2020-06-23) Toxic Methanol that Causes Blindness Found in Hand Sanitizers, FDA Warns

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Original Submission

• Re:Dupe Re:Dupe (Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Wednesday July 08 2020, @06:54AM (1 child)

  by maxwell demon (1608) on Wednesday July 08 2020, @06:54AM (#1018092) Journal

  I don't remember anything about people drinking hand sanitizers last week.

  Indeed, it sounds like a very bad idea to me; even without methanol, I'd not be surprised if some of the other ingredients would have a bad effect on health.

  But then, probably it's still better to drink the sanitizer than to inject it …

  --
  The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.

  Parent

  Starting Score:	1		point
  Karma-Bonus Modifier		+1
  Total Score:		2

• Re:Dupe (Score: 3, Informative) by Freeman on Wednesday July 08 2020, @03:59PM

  by Freeman (732) on Wednesday July 08 2020, @03:59PM (#1018233) Journal

  I submitted a story about the same thing and it was apparently published on 06/23. Look at the bottom of the current summary and the editor provided a link to the previous story. This is an update from the FDA with regards to more hand sanitizers that have the toxic substance methanol in them. My guess is it's illegal to put methanol in it and they have mislabeled the hand sanitizers.

  Drinking as little as 30 milliliters—2 tablespoons—may be lethal to children, and even smaller amounts can cause blindness.

  and

  “Although all persons using these products on their hands are at risk for methanol poisoning, young children who accidentally ingest these products and adolescents and adults who drink these products as an alcohol (ethanol) substitute, are most at risk,”

  Also, the previous announcement was a warning, but without known harm. Now, they are reporting that it has harmed people.

  At the time, the agency reported that it was “not aware of any reports of adverse events associated with these hand sanitizer products.”

  However, in the current warning—last updated July 6—the FDA said that state officials have since reported to the agency instances of “adults and children ingesting hand sanitizer products contaminated with methanol that has led to recent adverse events including blindness, hospitalizations and death.”

  --
  Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"

  Parent