People Are Dying and Suffering from Seizures After Consuming Alcohol-Based Hand Sanitisers Containing Methanol! CDC Warns Against Ingesting Hand Sanitisers
Coronavirus pandemic has made hand sanitisers and masks our best friends but some people are going above and beyond when it comes to using hand gels made for removing germs from the surface of the skin. Yes, there have been cases wherein people have ingested hand sanitisers and lost their lives. CDC has strictly warned against consuming hand sanitisers after cases of swallowing hand sanitisers have surfaced. People have died and according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, many have even suffered impaired vision or seizures. CDC had received notification from Arizona and New Mexico in the month of June about methanol poisoning and they found that it was caused because of ingestion of hand sanitizers.
While it is yet not known why people were ingesting hand sanitizer even though FDA has clearly mentioned that one must not consume hand sanitisers. "Alcohol-based hand sanitizer products should never be ingested," the CDC said in a new report. The CDC is not sure why people might drink hand sanitizer. Children might do it by mistake, and some people may think it's a good substitute for alcoholic drinks. The US Food and Drug Administration has been repeatedly warning about methanol in some hand sanitizers distributed in the United States. Unlike ethanol -- the alcohol usually used to make hand sanitizer -- methanol is toxic and can even poison people through their skin. The FDA has warned against more than 100 hand sanitizer products.
Alcohol-based hand sanitizer is a liquid, gel, or foam that contains ethanol or isopropanol used to disinfect hands. Hand hygiene is an important component of the U.S. response to the emergence of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). If soap and water are not readily available, CDC recommends the use of alcohol-based hand sanitizer products that contain at least 60% ethyl alcohol (ethanol) or 70% isopropyl alcohol (isopropanol) in community settings (1); in health care settings, CDC recommendations specify that alcohol-based hand sanitizer products should contain 60%–95% alcohol (≥60% ethanol or ≥70% isopropanol) (2). According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which regulates alcohol-based hand sanitizers as an over-the-counter drug, methanol (methyl alcohol) is not an acceptable ingredient.
