FDA warns against 9 hand sanitizers that contain toxic levels of methanol and can be deadly if ingested or absorbed through skin

• The FDA has warned consumers of nine hand-sanitizer products that contain the toxic chemical methanol.
• All of the products were produced by the same company and are still available for purchase.
• Methanol can be deadly if ingested or absorbed through the skin, and symptoms that a person has been poisoned with methanol include headaches, nausea, and confusion.

On Friday, the FDA warned consumers about potentially poisonous hand sanitizer that is still available for purchase.

Health officials called out nine hand-sanitizer products, which are all produced by the company Eskbiochem SA de CV in Mexico, and said they contain the toxic chemical methanol.

According to the Methanol Institute, methanol can be poisonous if it's ingested or absorbed through the skin.

If a person is exposed to methanol, symptoms like drowsiness, dizziness, headache, nausea, vomiting, and confusion could mean they've been poisoned, according to the CDC. People with these symptoms should get medical help right away, the CDC website says.

—FDA Drug Information (@FDA_Drug_Info) June 19, 2020

The nine products the FDA mentioned were:

• All-Clean Hand Sanitizer
• Esk Biochem Hand Sanitizer
• CleanCare NoGerm Advanced Hand Sanitizer 75% Alcohol
• Lavar 70 Gel Hand Sanitizer
• The Good Gel Antibacterial Gel Hand Sanitizer
• CleanCare NoGerm Advanced Hand Sanitizer 80% Alcohol
• CleanCare NoGerm Advanced Hand Sanitizer 75% Alcohol
• CleanCare NoGerm Advanced Hand Sanitizer 80% Alcohol
• Saniderm Advanced Hand Sanitizer

As companies have sought to increase their hand sanitizer production amidst the coronavirus pandemic, some have sought alternatives to typical sanitization ingredients like isopropyl alcohol or ethanol. But swapping those ingredients for methanol can be deadly. That's because methanol produces a type of acid that is toxic to the human body, according to BioEnergy International.

Methanol is typically used in industrial settings and can be found in products like adhesives, paint thinners, and antifreeze. In the United States, any product that contains more than 4% methanol must be labeled as "poison."

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