FDA Recalls Hand Sanitizer with Methanol: Linked to Blindness and Comas

A sign for the Food And Drug Administration is seen outside of the headquarters on July 20, 2020 in White Oak, Maryland. (Photo by Sarah Silbiger/Getty Images)/ (R) (Photo via: fda.gov)

OAN’s Brooke Mallory
5:59 PM – Wednesday, April 10, 2024

Federal health officials have announced the recall of several lots of aloe gel and hand sanitizer due to the presence of methanol, which poses a major risk to consumers’ health.

40 packages of Aruba Aloe Hand Sanitizer Gel Alcohol 80% and Aruba Aloe Alcoholada Gel have been recalled since they reportedly contain “alcohol denatured with methanol,” as stated in a notice published by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

In the most recent recall, the FDA issued a warning that “substantial methanol exposure” may result in death or permanent damage to the central nervous system, as well as symptoms like nausea, vomiting, headaches, blurred vision, coma, seizures, and permanent blindness.

Customers are now being instructed to throw away and cease using the products.

The impacted hand sanitizer gel from Aruba Aloe Balm N.V. is housed in 12-ounce dark green plastic bottles with white labels that partially say, “ARUBA ALOE Hand Sanitizer GEL 80% Alcohol Made in Aruba World’s Finest Aloe.”

The Aruba Aloe Alcoholada Gel comes in two sizes: 2.2 fl oz plastic bottles and 8.5 fl oz plastic bottles. It is intended to provide momentary relief from discomfort and itching related to mild burns, sunburns, bug bites, or minor skin irritations. Part of the label on the transparent bottles reads, “Alcoholada Gel Pain Relieving Gel 0.5% Lidocaine Hydrochloride.”

The FDA compiled a list of more than 600 potentially hazardous hand sanitizers during the pandemic after noticing a spike in the quantity of sanitizers manufactured with methanol as opposed to the permitted ethyl alcohol. Although methanol is frequently employed in industrial settings, skin contact with it is not recommended.

“Although all persons using these products on their hands are at risk, young children who accidently ingest these products and adolescents and adults who drink these products as an alcohol (ethanol) substitute are most at risk for methanol poisoning,” the notice states.

The impacted items were distributed between May 1^st, 2021, and October 7th, 2023, and they were offered for sale online in the United States via the website of Aruba Aloe Balm N.V.