3 ms·
Stop being dramatic. 2ppm isn't a lot, and it is a temporary measure. Benzene can be absorbed through the skin but most of it evaporates off (as hand sanitizer
by searine 6y ago
Stop being dramatic.
2ppm isn't a lot, and it is a temporary measure. Benzene can be absorbed through the skin but most of it evaporates off (as hand sanitizer is intended to do) before it is absorbed.
So yeah. The FDA reasonably updating guidelines to make sure people can buy hand sanitizer during a global pandemic is probably better than the fraction of a percent increased risk of cancer.
- captainredbeard 6y agoNot everyone who disagrees with you is stupid. You are entitled to your take on my unpopular opinion but it's arguing in bad faith to label my concerns as "dramatic". I simply disagree about the tradeoffs and it doesn't come from an uninformed or non-quantitatively-thinking position, I just weigh health risk mitigation higher than you do (even for long tail risks). In this case, my primary issue isn't with the 2ppm of benzene itself, it's with the race to quickly and quietly change it in the first place. The FDA (and the Feds in general) move glacially on important topics but when their buddies in the ethanol fuel business need something, they jump to loosen regulations to make production easier.
- searine 6y agoWhat is more likely: A. There is a long standing conspiracy between the FDA and ethanol plants to sell adulterated hand sanitizer. B. There is a global pandemic and given that emergency the FDA set aside normal regulations to expedite local antiseptic production.
- captainredbeard 6y agoFalse dilemma. This doesn't require a long standing conspiracy (or one at all), just a willingness to benefit big business, which generally doesn't favor the citizenry.