FDA Issues Warning on Toxic Hand Sanitizers

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To say that what we consider "valuable" has changed dramatically in the last 6 months would be an understatement. Honestly, if you had told me in December of last year that a healthy black market for toilet paper, cleaning supplies, and hand sanitizer would burst on to the scene and nearly bring back the barter system - I would have called you crazy. Then, last month - I almost traded my XBox for some quality TP.

That being said, my standard on brand/price/quantity has become extremely flexible during the Coronavirus shutdown. No longer to I hold out for GermX or Angel-Soft, in fact - I've resorted to using black label toilet paper (you know the one) and some weird, old-tequila smelling hand sanitizer for a while now.

While that kind of disloyalty has certainly come in handy during this crisis, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has released a stark warning for anyone desperate for hand sanitizer. Officials with the FDA have found that 9 brands of sanitizer sold by Mexican company Eskbiochem SA de CV contain dangerous levels of toxins that could be very harmful, even fatal, if used.

According to the warning posted on the FDA's website, these sanitizers contain methanol (wood alcohol) that can have devastating effects on your health when applied. Once the toxins seep into your skin, you could experience methanol poisoning. This poisoning can manifest as nausea, vomiting, headache, blurred vision, permanent blindness, seizures, coma, permanent damage to the nervous system or death.

The brands that authorities say to avoid are: