The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indicate using alcohol-based hand sanitizer which contains at least 60% alcohol. Think all hand sanitizer is the same? If it is labelled alcohol hand sanitizer, it should all be safe to use, right? Apparently not, given a recall from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The recall is due to methanol being used as an ingredient in some brands of sanitizer. Methanol alcohol is highly toxic through inhalation, oral or skin exposures. For these obvious reasons, it is not an acceptable ingredient in hand sanitizers.
Acceptable alcohols include ethanol, isopropyl alcohol, n-propyl alcohol or a combination of these. With the increased use of hand sanitizer, and being accessible everywhere, there are individuals, including children and teens, using these products as an alcohol (ethanol) substitute/alternative (ingesting). If they ingest a hand sanitizer with methanol as an ingredient, they are at risk of methanol poisoning.
If you find you have hand sanitizer with methanol as an ingredient, immediately dispose of it in a hazardous waste container. Do not flush or pour down the drain.
To learn more, contact Janell at the Chouteau County Extension Office at 622-3036, janellb@montana.edu or in the green building next to the Chouteau County Courthouse at 1308 Franklin St in Fort Benton.
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