Hand Sanitizer Recall: What to Do If You Bought a Bad Batch

It’s bad enough when your hamburger or salad mix turns out to be contaminated. Now, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is telling consumers to be on the lookout for a batch of potentially toxic hand sanitizer.

Fourteen different brands of hand sanitizers that were produced in Mexico potentially contain methanol (AKA wood alcohol), which can be potentially fatal when absorbed through the skin.

The manufacturers, all based in Mexico, include Esk Biochem, Grupo Insoma, Transliquid Technologies, Soluciones Cosmeticas and Tropicosmeticos.

 

Check your hand sanitizer to make sure it’s not one of the following potentially harmful brands.

There are, at last count, 55 different hand sanitizer products identified by the FDA as possibly containing methanol.

These are the brand names of the affected products:

• Blumen
• Klar
• Danver
• Modesa
• The Honeykeeper
• Hello Kitty by Sanrio
• Assured
• Bio AAA Advance
• LumiSkin
• QualitaMed
• Earth’s Amenities
• Agavespa Skincare
• Vidanos Easy Cleaning
• All-Clean
• Esk Biochem
• Lavar 70
• The Good Gel
• CleanCare NoGerm
• Saniderm
• Andy’s Best
• Andy’s
• Gelclor
• NeoNatural
• Plus Advanced
• Optimus Lubricants
• Bersih
• Mystic Shield
• Britz

IMPORTANT: If you believe you used these products, the FDA says to seek immediate medical treatment to reverse their toxic effects. Methanol can cause nausea, vomiting, headache, blurred vision, permanent blindness, seizures, coma, permanent damage to the nervous system, or death.

 

CVS, Sam’s Club, Dollar Tree and others sold the recalled brands.

On the CVS Reddit page, an employee shared that his store had sold some of the recalled Blumen products, and other employees seemed to agree. Sam’s Club and BJs Wholesale also have sold Blumen sanitizer.

Meanwhile, Dollar Tree and Amazon had sold Assured sanitizer products — which were #3 in the Today Show’s list of top hand sanitizer brands.

 

If you have one of these products, you may be eligible for a refund.

This is tricky. While Canada has issued a nationwide recall on these products — which comes with a refund — the U.S. hasn’t done that yet. And Esk Biochem hasn’t even officially announced a recall of the products yet.

The FDA hasn’t issued a recall, either; they’ve just asked consumers to dispose of the bad sanitizer in appropriate hazardous waste containers, and fill out a form (online or physical).

On top of that, many retailers aren’t giving refunds for coronavirus-related items like toilet paper, disinfectant wipes, and hand sanitizer.

But hey, you could always try to return the product to the retailer.

 

 

If you’re worried about buying hand sanitizer, it’s easy to make your own.

You just need 7 things to DIY:

• 91% isopropyl alcohol
• aloe vera gel
• essential oil (optional)
• a small mixing bowl
• a spoon
• a funnel
• an empty pump bottle or toiletry container

 

UP NEXT: How to Make Hand Sanitizer