NEW YORK (AP) – Alcohol-based sanitizers may help spread the coronavirus, but drinking the products turned out to be fatal to four people in two states.
Health officials reported this week that 15 adults were poisoned in May and June in Arizona and New Mexico after drinking sanitizer. In addition to the four who died, three had persistent vision problems, said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
All had consumed sanitizers containing methanol, as wood alcohol. The active ingredient that kills germs in legitimate sanitizers is ethyl alcohol, which is consumer. But some companies have replaced it with poisoned methanol, which is used in antifreeze.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a warning in June about Mexican-made hand sanitizer gel that it said contained large amounts of methanol. Since then, the FDA has expanded the list. The FDA has identified dozens of hand sanitizers containing methanol and in the US have been recalled by manufacturers and distributors.
___
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
.
