Three other people are in critical condition, the New Mexico Department of Health said in a statement. “All seven people are believed to have drunk hand sanitizer that contains methanol,” she said.
The cases were reported to the New Mexico Poison Control in May and were related to alcoholism, health officials said. They did not provide additional details about the cases or where it happened.
Some people are known to use hand sanitizer to get toxic due to its alcohol content. Before the pandemic, hand sanitizer was banned in most prisons for fear that inmates would drink it or use it to start fires. But the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recommended that facilities consider relaxing restrictions on the alcohol-based disinfectant to help fight coronavirus.
This week, the Food and Drug Administration urged people not to use hand sanitizer products made by Eskbiochem SA due to the possible presence of a toxic chemical.
Federal officials discovered methanol, which can be toxic when absorbed through the skin or ingested, in samples of hand sanitizers produced by the Mexican company. It is unclear if the victims in New Mexico used the same type of hand sanitizers.
Exposure to significant amounts of methanol can cause nausea, vomiting, headache, blurred vision, permanent blindness, seizures, coma, permanent damage to the nervous system, or death.
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