WMT Walmart Inc

By Sharon Terlep 

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is warning consumers to avoid dozens of imported hand-sanitizer products after the agency found toxic wood alcohol in some samples.

Most of the questionable brands came from roughly a half-dozen companies in Mexico, according to the agency. Several were sold by major retailers such as Walmart Inc.

The coronavirus pandemic created a rush on hand sanitizer that gave birth to legions of new brands as Americans scrambled to secure the cleaners and major manufacturers couldn't keep up.

Wood alcohol, or methanol, can be fatal when ingested and lead to methanol poisoning when applied to the skin. The FDA said it also is concerned about brands making false claims that their products protect against coronavirus, as well as growing numbers of people getting sick from ingesting sanitizers.

The FDA's list of toxic or potentially toxic sanitizers includes 20 that were tested by the agency and shown to contain methanol, and several dozen more that were either made at the same facilities of the methanol-containing products or voluntarily recalled.

The list includes 75 brands, though many have similar or identical names. There are about 35 distinct brand names on the list. The brands include names such as CleanCare, Mystic Shield and Blumen, which was sold by retailers including Walmart earlier this summer. Walmart declined to comment.

The agency said earlier this month that there have been cases in which adults and children died, were blinded or hospitalized after ingesting sanitizers containing methanol.

Efforts to reach some of the companies behind these brands were unsuccessful.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends alcohol-based hand sanitizer as a tool in preventing the virus's spread when soap and water aren't available.

Hand sanitizer is among the most in-demand products amid the pandemic. Many makers, including Purell maker Gojo Industries Inc., have directed much of their supply to hospitals and health-care facilities, which has made the cleaners even harder to find for individual consumers. In recent months, U.S. business reopenings have further ramped up demand.

Purell remains in short supply at retailers. Akron, Ohio-based Gojo said Thursday the company had already doubled production and is making capital investments that will allow it to increase sanitizer production sevenfold by next summer. "Demand for hand sanitizer remains exponentially higher than in any time in history," a spokeswoman said.

Unilever PLC, the maker of Suave shampoo and Dove soap, said Thursday that it has aggressively expanded its previously small hand-sanitizer business to meet surging demand.

While mainstream brands are hard to find, dozens of small names have cropped up, produced by local and major distilleries, beauty companies and some companies already in the business of making cleaning products.

The proliferation of pop-up brands hasn't been a major phenomenon with most shortage-prone products. Items such as toilet paper and paper towels require massive capital investments that limit new entrants.

When it comes to surface cleaners and sanitizing wipes, the CDC recommends using only products cleared by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as being effective against coronavirus.

For hand sanitizers, which are regulated by the FDA rather than the EPA, the CDC recommends only that the product contain concentrations of at least 80% ethanol or 75% isopropyl alcohol.

The FDA in March said that for the course of the pandemic it wouldn't take action against companies for making alcohol-based hand sanitizers for consumer use or for use by health-care personnel. That move addressed U.S. sanitizer makers and not imported brands.

Write to Sharon Terlep at sharon.terlep@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 24, 2020 10:13 ET (14:13 GMT)

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