Most hand sanitizers Valisure found and tested were gels. Some of these tainted sanitizers were found for sale at and Target outlets. While those brands, like most of those tested, didn’t contain unsafe benzene levels, many new entrants did, according to Valisure. To see Valisure’s citizen petition to the FDA, including a list of brands identified with high benzene levels, click here.Įxhorted by politicians and health officials to wash their hands, consumers quickly exhausted supplies of household names such as Purell and Suave. The samples came from the shelves of stores nearby its headquarters and online outlets, Valisure said. Fifteen brands were represented among the 21 bottles with the highest levels of contamination. That level “can be tolerated for a relatively short period of time,” the FDA said in June. Twenty-one bottles, or 8%, contained benzene above two parts per million, a temporary limit the FDA set for liquid hand sanitizers to ease the supply squeeze. Valisure analyzed 260 bottles from 168 brands and found 17% of the samples contained detectable levels of benzene. The World Health Organization’s cancer research arm puts it in the highest risk category, on par with asbestos. The FDA is looking more closely at ingredients manufacturers that might use DMF.Some widely available hand sanitizers that American consumers snapped up last year to ward off coronavirus infection contain high levels of a chemical known to cause cancer, a testing firm’s analysis found.Īn assortment of hand cleaners that flooded into the market after mainstays disappeared from retail outlets contain high levels of benzene, according to Valisure, a New Haven, Connecticut-based online pharmacy that tests products for quality and consistency.īenzene causes cancer, according to the U.S. DMF is a solvent used during the early stages of drug manufacturing that is supposed to be washed out of the final product. In 2019, Valisure also identified elevated levels of a probable carcinogen called DMF, or dimethylformamide, in blood pressure drugs. Some two dozen companies sold FDA-approved generic versions of the drug at the time. The FDA eventually required Zantac and its generic form, ranitidine, to come off the market in the U.S. Valisure later detected NDMA in the heartburn drug Zantac and its generic forms as well as metformin, a diabetes treatment, prompting further actions. Contaminants include NDMA, or N-Nitrosodimethylamine, a probable carcinogen that was found in blood-pressure pills in 2018, leading to recalls. Medications have also been found to contain carcinogens that either weren’t properly washed out during the manufacturing process or formed later as the medications sat on shelves. Gel hand sanitizer is also made by adding a powder called a carbomer, often made with benzene, to create viscosity, the pharmacy said. While benzene should be removed in the final steps of manufacturing after the alcohol is purified, it may not have been, Valisure said. The company resumed bottling soon after the problem was identified and solved, and was bought by Nestle SA in 1992. In 1990, a local environmental official in North Carolina discovered benzene in bottles of Perrier water that led the company to conduct a massive recall and halt distribution to 120 countries. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health says skin absorption and ingestion are also possible. Workers in certain chemical industries risk exposure to the material, which is used to make plastics and rubber. Cigarette smoke accounts for about half of the benzene exposure in the U.S., according to the American Cancer Society. Walt Disney Co., which airs “The Mandalorian” series in which the Baby Yoda character appears, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.īenzene has been linked to certain blood cancers, such as leukemias. An artnaturals sanitizer contained the most benzene of those sampled, at 16 parts per million.Ĭalls and emails to the manufacturers and retailers requesting comment weren’t returned early in the U.S. Each started selling the cleaners that were tested by Valisure in either April or May of 2020, according to FDA records. Among the most contaminated hand cleaners were products from artnaturals, Scentsational Soaps and Candles Inc., The Creme Shop and a Baby Yoda-themed bottle from Best Brands Consumer Products Inc.
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