The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has added to its list of life-threatening hand sanitizers, according to an online update Monday.
The FDA has added at least seven new hand sanitizers to its online table, pointing out which hand sanitizers could be deadly.
The products listed have been tested by the FDA and found to contain methanol, which can be dangerous when absorbed through the skin or ingested, have been manufactured in the same facilities as products that have been tested by the FDA, and They have been found to contain methanol, or are being recalled by the manufacturer or distributor.
The update to the list expands on a warning the FDA issued in June against several hand sanitizers produced by a Mexico-based manufacturer, Eskbioechem SA. The FDA had extended the list earlier this month.
The FDA now has 87 products on its list of hand sanitizers that it recommends consumers not to use.
Consumers who have been exposed to methanol-containing hand sanitizers and experience symptoms should seek “immediate treatment” to reverse the potential toxic effects of methanol poisoning, the FDA recommends.
Substantial exposure to methanol can cause nausea, vomiting, headache, blurred vision, permanent blindness, seizures, coma, permanent nervous system damage, or death, the FDA warns.
The warning of life-threatening hand sanitizer products occurs when health experts recommend regular hand sanitization for the public to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus. The highly contagious virus has infected more than 4 million people and killed more than 148,056 people in the U.S., according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
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