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Mounting poisonings, blindness, deaths as toxic hand sanitizers flood market
The Food and Drug Administration is renewing warnings this week of dangerous hand sanitizers as it continues to find products that contain toxic methanol—a poisonous alcohol that can cause systemic effects, blindness, and death.
The agency's growing "do-not-use list" of dangerous sanitizers now includes 87 products. And with the mounting tally, the FDA also says there are rising reports from state health departments and poison control centers of injuries and deaths.
"We remain extremely concerned about the potential serious risks of alcohol-based hand sanitizers containing methanol," said FDA Commissioner Stephen M. Hahn in a statement.
Previously:
Toxic Hand Sanitizers Have Blinded and Killed Adults and Children, FDA Warns
Toxic Methanol that Causes Blindness Found in Hand Sanitizers, FDA Warns
(Score: 5, Interesting) by istartedi on Thursday July 30 2020, @06:05AM (3 children)
I have no worries about C4U alcohol-based hand sanitizer. It's made by Gulf Coast Distillers, a US company which also makes potable alcohol. I figure those two things combined make it very unlikely to have that problem. I've run through about half my supply since this all started and I'm obviously not poisoned. It does indeed smell like strong booze, a smell that's not unpleasant to me. Seriously, you wouldn't want to use it around alcoholics because it might trigger them. I like it though. A lot of the other sanitizers smell like ass. Oh, and you still wouldn't want to drink it because it's essentially 160 proof alcohol with glycerine, peroxide and a few other things thrown in that make it non-potable. It probably wouldn't kill you if you treated it like 160 proof vodka, but I bet it would give you a terrible hangover or something.
I'm not affiliated with them or anything. I just think it's a good product. Oh, and it cleans the bathroom mirror pretty good too. If this insanity ended tomorrow, I'd probably just use it for that.
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(Score: 2, Informative) by fakefuck39 on Saturday August 01 2020, @01:28AM (1 child)
so, i have to ask here - why are you not just ordering a bottle of isopropanol from walmart online? if you want to thicken it, just dump some glycerine in it. which you can order a gallon of, online, for like $10. I prefer just to mix it half n half with thick lotion.
peroxide is the last thing you want on your hands, or clothes. it's as good at eating and bleaching your tshirt as it is your skin.
and ethanol, which is what you're using, is usually denatured with acetone. you know - paint thinner. also the last thing you want on your skin. there are plenty of pure alcohols that don't have random toxic crap in them. like rubbing alcohol.
(Score: 2) by istartedi on Saturday August 01 2020, @05:39AM
I purchased it when we were still having supply issues. It was the first bulk sanitizer to appear on the shelf in reasonable quantity, although it was a bit expensive. I didn't want to buy online because there was too much possibility of gouging and/or failure to deliver. I suppose things might have gotten better now, but there was no way to predict that.
C4U isn't thick at all. It has the consistency of water. I periodically transfer it from the bulk container into my own spritzer. The trace ingredients are just enough to make it stick to your hands a bit longer than a water-ethanol solution would. It does that very well--it's actually hard to wash the smell of C4U off your hands when you get home.
Sorry, I was wrong about the peroxide. The bottle says that the other ingredients are isopropyl alcohol and glycerine. Yes, when I was using peroxide at one point I was just careful to keep it off clothing and hair. I never had any problems with it.
I'm assuming the iso is the denaturing compound, and the glycerine is there to make it less drying to the skin, or whatever other reason glycerine is generally added to these things.
I don't know what I'll do when the C4U runs out; but if bulk precursors are locally available then I'd probably do exactly what you said. I think it's worthwhile to bide my time because the prices will come down. Bulk rubbing alcohol was available here first, but I balked at the price.
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(Score: 2) by legont on Saturday August 01 2020, @02:54PM
I just use 120 proof gin folks here recommended. Thank you, it works great.
I am a little worried about cops though as I have one next to me all the time while driving. Sould I? What do you think?
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