Harmful levels of carcinogen found in some hand sanitizers
17% of samples analyzed contained detectable levels of benzene
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.
An 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.
Benzene causes cancer, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The World Health Organization’s cancer research arm puts it in the highest risk category, on par with asbestos.
Valisure analyzed 260 bottles from 168 brands and found 17% of the samples contained detectable levels of benzene. Twenty-one bottles, or 8%, contained benzene above two parts per million, a temporary limit the Food and Drug Administration set for liquid hand sanitizers to ease the supply squeeze.
That level “can be tolerated for a relatively short period of time,” the FDA said in June. Fifteen brands were represented among the 21 bottles with the highest levels of contamination. The samples came from the shelves of stores nearby its headquarters and online outlets, Valisure said.
The FDA tests hand sanitizers and works with companies, when appropriate, to recall products, said Jeremy Kahn, an agency spokesman. The FDA encourages retailers to remove products from store shelves and online marketplaces when quality issues arise, he said.
To see Valisure’s citizen petition filed Wednesday with the FDA, including a list of brands identified with high benzene levels, go to bit. ly/31fv5pD.
Exhorted by politicians and health officials to wash their hands, consumers quickly exhausted supplies of household names such as Purell and Suave. While those brands, like most of those tested, didn’t contain unsafe benzene levels, many new entrants did, according to Valisure. Some of these tainted sanitizers were found for sale at Amazon and Target outlets.
Most hand sanitizers Valisure found and tested were gels. The pharmacy’s test results were verified by Yale University’s Chemical and Biophysical Instrumentation Center and Boston Analytical, a private lab. On March 24, Valisure asked the Food and Drug Administration to take action on the contaminated products.
“These findings are alarming and reveal a serious potential risk to public health,” Valisure said in a petition signed by CEO David Light and other executives. The pharmacy previously found high levels of other carcinogens in drug components manufactured overseas for the U.S. market.
It isn’t clear how benzene became present in the products. It may have been introduced during the manufacturing process when germkilling alcohol is purified, Valisure said.
Among the most contaminated hand cleaners were products from artnaturals, Scentsational Soaps and Candles, The Creme Shop and a Baby Yoda-themed bottle from Best Brands Consumer Products. Each started selling the cleaners that were tested by Valisure in either April or May of 2020, according to FDA records. An artnaturals sanitizer contained the most benzene of those sampled, at 16 parts per million.
Calls and emails to the manufacturers and retailers requesting comment weren’t returned. Walt Disney Co., which airs “The Mandalorian” series in which the Baby Yoda character appears, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Benzene has been linked to certain blood cancers, such as leukemias. Cigarette smoke accounts for about half of the benzene exposure in the U.S., according to the American Cancer Society. Workers in certain chemical industries risk exposure to the material, which is used to make plastics and rubber.
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health says skin absorption and ingestion are also possible.
Focusing on hand-sanitizer safety, the FDA in January blocked imports of products from Mexico after many were found to contain methanol, a form of alcohol that’s poisonous to humans. Most of the products Valisure found to contain high levels of benzene were made in China or the U.S.
The analysis also found high levels of methanol in the hand sanitizers. One Scentsational product that tested for high levels of benzene held 14 times the limit of methanol, which is 630 parts per million. Alcohol-based hand sanitizers typically should not contain methanol; they’re usually made with ethanol, or grain alcohol, which is also used in some drinks.
Valisure’s CEO Light said he originally scoffed at the idea that a dangerous carcinogen like benzene would be in hand cleaners, but he’s now glad that Chief Scientific Officer Kaury Kucera pushed to test for it. Sanitizers could have become contaminated with benzene because it’s sometimes used in alcohol purification, Valisure said.
While benzene should be removed in the final steps of manufacturing after the alcohol is purified, it may not have been, 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.
Benzene is the third and most dangerous cancer-causing chemical the pharmacy has helped bring to light in product testing.