Artnaturals hand sanitizer
Photographer: Tiffany Hagler-Geard / Bloomberg
Photographer: Tiffany Hagler-Geard / Bloomberg
Some commonly available hand sanitizers that American consumers bought last year to ward off coronavirus infections contain high levels of a chemical known to cause cancer, an analysis from a testing company found.
A range of hand cleaners that have hit the market after crutches disappeared from stores includes, according to Valisure, an online pharmacy in New Haven, Connecticut that tests products for quality and consistency.
Benzene causes cancer, according to the United States Department of Health and Human Services. The The World Health Organization cancer research arm places it in the highest risk category, comparable to asbestos.
Valisure analyzed 260 bottles from 168 brands and found that 17% of the samples contained detectable levels of benzene. Twenty-one bottles, or 8%, contain more than two parts per million of benzene, a temporary limit that the FDA has set for liquid hand sanitizers to ease the pressure on supplies.
That level “can be tolerated for a relatively short period of time,” the FDA said said in June. Fifteen brands were represented among the 21 bottles with the highest contamination level. The samples came from the shelves of stores near the headquarters and online outlets, Valisure said.
To review Valisure’s citizen petition with the FDA, including a list of brands identified with high levels of benzene, Click here.
Urged by politicians and health officials to wash their hands, consumers quickly became exhausted from household names such as Purell and Suave. While those brands, like most tested, didn’t have unsafe levels of benzene, many newbies did, according to Valisure. Some of these contaminated disinfectants were offered for sale at Amazon.com Inc. and Target Corp. outlets.
Most of the hand sanitizers that Valisure found and tested were gels. The pharmacy’s test results have been verified by Yale University Center for Chemical and Biophysical Instruments and Boston Analytical, a private laboratory. On Wednesday, Valisure asked the Food and Drug Administration take action against the contaminated products.
Hand sanitizer brands with bottles tested for the highest levels of benzene detected by Valisure
1. artnaturals 9. beauty concepts 2. Scentsational Soaps & Candles Inc. 10. PureLogic 3. huangjisoo 11. Miami Continue 4. TrueWash 12. Of course wonderz 5. The cream shop 13. clean-protect-disinfect 6. Star Wars Mandalorian 14. Puretizing 7. Body regulations 15. Hand cleaning 100 8. Born Basic
Blood cancer
“These findings are alarming and indicate a serious potential public health risk,” Valisure said in a petition signed by the Chief Executive Officer. David Light and other executives. The pharmacy previously found high levels of other carcinogens in drug components manufactured overseas for the US market.
Read more: America’s love affair with cheap drugs has hidden costs
It is not clear how benzene got into the products. It may have been introduced during the manufacturing process when purifying germicidal alcohol, Valisure said.
Among the most polluted hand cleaners were products from artificial natural, Scentsational Soaps and Candles Inc., The Creme Shop and a Baby Yoda themed bottle from Best Brands Consumer Products Inc. Each started selling the cleaners tested by Valisure in April or May 2020, according to FDA data. An artificial disinfectant contained most of the benzene of the sampled, at 16 parts per million.
Calls and emails to manufacturers and retailers requesting comment were not answered early in the US. Walt Disney Co., which airs the series “The Mandalorian” featuring the character Baby Yoda, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Better Brands Baby Yoda Hand Sanitizer
Photographer: Tiffany Hagler-Geard / Bloomberg
Benzene has been linked to certain types of blood cancers, such as leukemia. Cigarette smoke is responsible for about half of the exposure to benzene in the US, according to the American Cancer Society. Workers in certain chemical industries risk exposure to the material used to make plastics and rubber.
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health says absorption and absorption through the skin are also possible. In 1990 a local environmental officer in North Carolina discovered benzene in bottles of Perrier water, prompting the company to issue a massive recall and stop distribution to 120 countries. The company resumed bottling shortly after the problem was identified and resolved, and was bought by Nestle SA in 1992.
USA, China origin
Focus on the safety of hand sanitizer, the FDA in January blocked imports of products from Mexico after it was found to be high in methanol, a form of alcohol poisonous to humans. Most Valisure products that contain a high level of benzene are made in China or the USA.
The analysis also found high levels of methanol in the hand sanitizers. One Scentsational product tested for high benzene levels maintained 14 times the limit of methanol at 630 parts per million. Alcohol-based hand sanitizers should generally not contain methanol; they are usually made with ethanol or grain alcohol, which is also used in some drinks.
Valisure’s Light said he originally scoffed at the idea that a dangerous carcinogen like benzene might be in hand cleaners, but he is now pleased that Chief Scientific Officer Kaury Kucera has pushed for it to be tested. Sanitizers may have become contaminated with benzene because it is sometimes used in alcohol purification, Valisure said.
Production process
While benzene should be removed in the final steps of production after the alcohol has been purified, that may not be the case, Valisure said. Gel hand sanitizer is also made by adding a powder called a carbomer, often made with benzene, to create viscosity, the pharmacy said.
Read more: Carcinogen in Zantac and Generics Triggers FDA, EU Probes
Medicines were also found to contain carcinogens that were either not washed out properly during the manufacturing process or formed later when the drugs were on the shelves. Contaminants include NDMA or N-Nitrosodimethylamine, a likely carcinogen found in blood pressure pills in 2018, leading to recalls.
Valisure later discovered NDMA in the stomach acid drug Zantac and its generic forms, as well as metformin, a diabetes treatment, prompting further action. The FDA eventually demanded that Zantac and its generic form, ranitidine, be off the market in the U.S. About two dozen companies sold FDA-approved generic versions of the drug at that time.
In 2019, Valisure also identified elevated levels of a likely carcinogen called DMF, or dimethylformamide, in blood pressure medications. DMF is a solvent that is used during the early stages of drug production and must be washed from the final product. The FDA is looking more closely at ingredient manufacturers that could use DMF.
Benzene is the third and most dangerous carcinogenic chemical identified by the pharmacy in product testing.
Updates with list of brands that Valisure has found with the highest benzene levels