Hand sanitizer shouldn't make us sick

These days, many of us are using a lot more hand sanitizer than we used to. We need to be able to count on it being safe.

But in just the past few months, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has identified a disturbingly high number of hand sanitizer brands that may be contaminated with toxic chemicals that can make you sick — or worse.

Despite that, the FDA still doesn’t require companies to test their sanitizers for contamination. Join us in calling on the FDA to implement strong testing requirements.

Contaminated sanitizers are seriously dangerous. In Arizona, contaminated sanitizers have killed at least four people and hospitalized dozens of others. One person even went blind.

All of these people used sanitizer products that tested positive for methanol, a chemical used to make antifreeze that is toxic when absorbed through the skin. Since June, the FDA has warned consumers about more than 80 brands of hand sanitizer that may be contaminated with methanol.

In August, the FDA recommended that companies do a better job of testing their sanitizers for contamination — but a non-binding recommendation just isn’t enough when it’s our health and safety at stake.

Tell the FDA to require testing of hand sanitizers.

When you buy something from the store — especially something to protect your health, such as hand sanitizer — you shouldn’t have to worry that it might kill you, blind you or make you sick. The FDA needs to step up and protect consumers by requiring companies that manufacture hand sanitizer to test their products for contamination in certified labs.

Tell the FDA: Require — don’t just recommend — that companies test their hand sanitizers for dangerous contamination.