Subpotent Sanitizer Sales

Costco called our house last week with a recorded message saying the Blumen Clear Advanced Hand Sanitizer we  purchased months back had been recalled. The message advised there was no need to check the lot number, the recall included ALL of this product. That message, along with the mainstream media reporting the FDA recall of hand sanitizers surpassed 100 products, brought it all home. This is a critically important health issue that all of us need to be paying attention to.

Chances are good that your clients have had a similar awakening, and there’s no doubt there will be more questions sure to come up. The current FDA list of dangerous hand sanitizer products includes some that have already been recalled and other products being recommended for recalls because they may contain methanol, a potentially fatal ingredient we’ve talked about before.

We knew about that risk, but now the conversation has broadened.  The FDA’s most recent statement around hand sanitizer products stated the following: "FDA test results show certain hand sanitizers have concerningly low levels of ethyl alcohol or isopropyl alcohol, which are active ingredients in hand sanitizer products.” "The agency urges consumers not to use these subpotent products and has expanded its list to include subpotent hand sanitizers, in addition to hand sanitizers that are or may be contaminated with methanol." What this means is that consumers (and your clients) will be worried about BOTH  sanitizers that might contain dangerous methanol AND sanitizers without enough ethyl or isopropyl alcohol to render them safe and actually effective against germs. Goodness, what a mess.

In June, the FDA warned consumers not to use nine kinds of hand sanitizers because they may contain methanol, then added to the list in early July, and expanded the list multiple times later last month. Now comes this new risk of subpotent products. In a warning July 27th, the FDA removed any distinction of product by lot number, saying “not to use any hand sanitizer products from the particular manufacturers on the list even if the product or particular lot number are not listed since some manufacturers are recalling only certain – but not all – of their hand sanitizer products." It’s clear that if a brand has recalled one product, you should consider all marketed under that brand as potentially dangerous.

For industrial purposes, methanol is manufactured for use as a solvent, it’s also an ingredient in pesticides, and can be used as an alternative fuel source. Exposure by either rubbing it on the skin, or ingestion, can cause nausea, vomiting, headache, blurred vision, permanent blindness, seizures, coma, or permanent damage to the nervous system, and in extreme cases, even death.

So that you can easily share with your clients, here’s a list of just how a sanitizer lands on the FDA’s warning list:

·        It has been tested by FDA and found to contain methanol.

·        It is labeled to contain methanol (though few are).

·        It has been tested and is found to have microbial contamination.

·        It is being recalled by the manufacturer or distributor.

·        It has been determined to be subpotent, meaning it has less than the required amount of ethyl alcohol, isopropyl alcohol or benzalkonium chloride.

·        It is purportedly made at the same facility as products that have been tested by FDA and found to contain methanol.

Bottom line, this is an issue I recommend you get out in front of with your customers — and in your home life as quickly as possible. Using hand sanitizer that contains methanol can have serious health consequences, just as trusting hand sanitizer to be safe when it might not be can be equally dangerous. Be careful out there!

Switching gears a bit, I’m looking forward to presenting at the Drinkware virtual tradeshow on PromoShow for PromoCorner next Tuesday, August 25^th. I’ll be live (well, virtually via Zoom) doing an educational session from the show floor. Please register and join me for what I know will be a very informative session. We’re going to break down reservations you might have about talking safety and responsible sourcing with your clients. The session is even called “True Confessions: I Don’t Really Talk About Safety With My Clients,”and it’s really the basics to get you started with what can be a difficult subject to feel comfortable discussing. We won’t be discussing technical details of testing, or the 800 chemicals the State of California has decided may cause cancer in Prop65. We’ll be talking about making you comfortable with the basic discussion points, like “No product is 100 percent safe,” and “Safety should be more like knowing what time it is for your client, instead of telling them how you built the clock.” See, I told you it would be interesting. Hope to see you next Tuesday!