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The World Health Organization Do-It-Yourself Disinfectant Recipe
While many of the ingredients needed to make formulas at home may seem unconventional, they can actually be purchased online or at a local pharmacy.
NEW HAVEN, Conn. – An independent study has found that some hand sanitizers widely available in the United States – which were quickly produced in an effort to prevent infection amid the COVID-19 pandemic – contain high levels of a chemical known to cause cancer.
Of 260 hand sanitizer products tested, 44 lots (17%) contained benzene, according to Valisure, an online pharmacy that tests the safety and consistency of drugs and supplements.
In an open letter to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Valisure urges the agency to immediately recall batches of hand sanitizer that they believe have been contaminated with the harmful chemical. The online pharmacy said it is also urging U.S. regulators to further investigate batches of hand sanitizer that it says do not meet FDA guidelines.
Benzene is a known human carcinogen linked to leukemia and other cancers of blood cells. The International Agency for Research on Cancer, the cancer research arm of the World Health Organization, notes that exposure to benzene has been linked to acute lymphoid leukemia (ALL), chronic lymphocytic leukemia ( LLC), multiple myeloma and non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
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The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health lists the routes of exposure to benzene as “inhalation, skin absorption, ingestion, contact with skin and / or eyes”.
But during the COVID-19 public health emergency, the FDA authorized an interim limit of 2 parts per million (ppm) for benzene in liquid hand sanitizers to meet the high demand.
“Based on our review of the available data, we determined that these interim impurity levels can be tolerated for a relatively short period of time, given the emphasis on hand hygiene during the COVID public health emergency. -19 and to avoid exacerbating access problems for alcohol. based on hand sanitizer, ”the FDA said in June.
Among the batches of hand sanitizer tested by Valisure, the highest level of benzene detected was 16.1 parts per million, more than eight times the FDA’s temporary limit.
“Consumer use of hand sanitizers has increased dramatically during the coronavirus pandemic and while it is important that consumers have access to products that help ensure personal and public safety, it is of the utmost importance importance that consumers have access to safe and uncontaminated products, “said David Light, Founder and CEO of Valisure.” The detection of hand sanitizer products containing high levels of benzene is of great concern as these products are potentially used in large amounts several times a day by adults and children.
Valisure says it has analyzed 260 unique batches of hand sanitizer from 168 different brands. The online pharmacy said it found 21 batches of hand sanitizer containing worrying levels of benzene above the FDA’s interim limit of 2 ppm.
In addition, 23 batches of hand sanitizer contained between 0.1 and 2 parts per million benzene. Besides benzene, “unacceptably high” levels of methanol and acetaldehyde, another carcinogen, have been detected in some of the hand sanitizers, according to the online pharmacy.
Some batches contained up to 8,680 ppm methanol, 14 times the interim FDA limit, according to Valisure.
Valisure said its researchers did not detect benzene in 216 batches of hand sanitizer from 152 brands during its initial analysis.
Valisure provides a list of each lot of hand sanitizer tested in its analysis.
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