FDA: These Hand Sanitizers Have Possibly Fatal Ingredient

Using hand sanitizer? Might be good to check that label. The Food and Drug Administration is adding more hand sanitizers to its list of products to avoid because they contain methanol—which is toxic when ingested or absorbed by the skin, USA Today reports. The FDA is telling Americans to avoid 59 different kinds of hand sanitizer, including some that have been recalled or face possible recall for containing the dangerous ingredient. The agency says it has "seen a sharp increase in hand sanitizer products that are labeled to contain ethanol (also known as ethyl alcohol) but that have tested positive for methanol contamination."

Seems all the latest hand sanitizers on the list are produced in Mexico—including over two dozen sold by 4E Global, many of which carry the Blumen label, per CNN. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notes that methanol is used in industrial settings as an alternative fuel source, solvent, and pesticide, and can cause a variety of ill health effects including headaches, seizures, coma, blurred vision, and permanent blindness. The CDC suggests using an alcohol-based sanitizer with at least 70% isopropanol and 60% ethanol. (More hand sanitizer stories.)