Popular hand sanitizer and aloe brands recalled over common ingredient that FDA warns could cause comas and blindness

Popular hand sanitizer and aloe brands have been recalled due to a common ingredient that can cause comas and blindness.

Roughly 40 lots of Aruba Aloe Hand Sanitizer Gel Alcohol 80 percent and Aruba Aloe Alcoholada Gel hand sanitizer gel were pulled from shelves because they contained methanol.

A notice posted by the FDA says customers should stop using the products and throw them away. Hand sanitizers in particular have become more popular since the Covid pandemic.

‘Substantial methanol exposure’ can result in nausea, vomiting, headache, blurred vision, coma, seizures, permanent blindness, permanent damage to the central nervous system, or even death, the agency said.

Aruba Aloe Alcoholada Gel, is a pain-reliving gel used to temporarily reduce pain and itching linked to minor burns, sunburn, insect bites, or minor skin irritations. It has been recalled due to its methanol content

Young children who may accidentally ingest the hand sanitizer and young adults who drink hand sanitizer as an alcohol substitute are most at risk for methanol poisoning, the FDA warned.

Aruba Aloe Balm NV, the maker of the hand sanitizers, has not received any reports of adverse events related to these products to date.

Methanol is often deliberately added to alcoholic beverages or products as a cheaper alternative to alternative to ethanol – which is what normal alcohol that can be consumed is made of. 

The affected hand sanitizers are packaged in 12 fl oz dark green plastic bottles with a white label that reads ‘ARUBA ALOE Hand Sanitizer GEL 80% Alcohol Made in Aruba World’s Finest Aloe.’

They are used to clean people’s hands and help reduce bacteria that may potentially cause disease.

The other affected product is the Aruba Aloe Alcoholada Gel, which is a pain-reliving gel used to temporarily reduce pain and itching linked to minor burns, sunburn, insect bites, or minor skin irritations.

It comes in two sizes: 2.2 fl oz and 8.5 fl oz plastic bottles.

The products were sold in the US online between May 1 2021 and 27 October 2023 via the Aruba Aloe Balm NV website.

Methanol, also known as methyl alcohol or wood alcohol, is a colorless liquid with a pungent alcohol odor which is used for disinfecting surfaces.

While it is naturally occurring in wood, it is toxic to humans and animals and can cause serious damage to organs in the body if a person swallows it, breathes it in, or gets it on their skin.

It should not be used in hand sanitizer, according to the Methanol Institute.

The FDA does not quantify ‘substantial methanol exposure,’ but according to research published in the NIH’s website, a potentially lethal dose of methanol is roughly 30 to 240 ml, or one gram per kilogram.

Permanent visual damage could happen by ingestion as little as 30 ml of methanol, it said.