4 ms·

Tl;dr: ArtNaturals made hand sanitizer with very high levels of benzene (a carcinogen) and after a fire and runoff into the Dominguez Channel, produced a bunch

by loeg 3y ago

Tl;dr: ArtNaturals made hand sanitizer with very high levels of benzene (a carcinogen) and after a fire and runoff into the Dominguez Channel, produced a bunch of hydrogen sulfide (the "rotten eggs" smelling gas). When the FDA reimposed pre-pandemic sanitizer rules, companies were forced to dispose of the crap they produced under the lax rules. Some tried to do so by giving it away to schools or illegally dumping it underground. Other sanitizer has sat around abandoned until it caught fire.

14 3y ago
Now I am a little uneasy about the sanitizer I bought. I walked into Walmart one day and they had these giant bottles of liquid hand sanitizer with a 80% alcohol content and it works great and doesn’t leave a residue. It was on for 25cents a bottle when normally something that size would sell for about $8. I couldn’t believe they were getting rid of it for so cheap so bout about 100 bottles and have been using it for months. Wish there was a way I could test for benzene and I wonder if Walmart knew it was bad and decided to dump it on customers so they wouldn’t be sitting with thousands of bottles needing disposal.
- burnished 3y ago
  Looks like there are kits in the 60-100$ range, a local college chemistry lab might also be able to do it, there may also be a simple test you can apply - sounds like much more effort than what you put in acquiring, might be worthwhile to just cut it at a loss if you think it is a risk at all
- neilv 3y ago
  > an independent lab in Connecticut called Valisure announced that it had found benzene in the company’s sanitizer. [...] Not long after, a horrified nurse in Arizona captured a photograph of ArtNaturals bottles on sale at her local Walmart for 50 cents, with a sign nearby saying that they used to be $2.97. Your heirs might have a viable lawsuit.
- loeg 3y ago
  Might as well just toss it unless you regularly need to kill bacteria on your hands away from running water.
- Symbiote 3y ago
  Chemists used to wash their hands in benzene!
  - NotYourLawyer 3y ago
    Doctors used to smoke cigarettes.
- dahfizz 3y ago
  Are you currently desperate for hand sanitizer? I would just buy some good stuff or go without. I would rather risk a little sniffles than leukemia.
- actuallyalys 3y ago
  Not sure about testing for benzene, but you can check the FDA's list of sanitizers that should not be used: https://www.fda.gov/drugs/drug-safety-and-availability/fda-updates-hand-sanitizers-consumers-should-not-use https://www.fda.gov/drugs/drug-safety-and-availability/fda-u....
sargun 3y ago
I'm curious, where does the benzene come from? Isn't hand sanitizer just ethanol with scents added, and maybe a gelling agent?
- thereisnospork 3y ago
  Educated guess: From its use as an azeotrope breaker in the distillation of ethanol from water. Normally its impossible to achieve greater than ~95% ethanol from an ethanol water mixture, but it is possible to achieve ~100% ethanol from a water/benzene/ethanol mixture[0]. [0]There of course have been methods invented which do not involve benzene.
  - NotYourLawyer 3y ago
    Makes sense. And benzene is fine for ethanol you’re mixing with gasoline.
    - lesuorac 3y ago
      Not a scientist but I mean mixing a toxic chemical with something that you burn around people sounds not fine.
      - loeg 3y ago
        Benzene combusts to carbon dioxide and water, which are both relatively harmless. (Gasoline is also not something you want on your skin.)
      - NotYourLawyer 3y ago
        Gasoline already has benzene in it. Adding a tiny bit more with the ethanol doesn’t matter.
- Sunspark 3y ago
  A pet peeve of mine, I don't use public hand sanitizer because all the cheap stuff (probably the same stuff this article talks about) seems maniacally intent on adding really long-lasting fragrance to it. When I say long lasting, I don't mean an hour, I mean you can still smell the added fragrance the NEXT DAY despite washing your hands multiple times since. That stuff's got to be toxic. Something that has fragrance this long-lasting is not a sanitizer, it's an odorant or perfuming agent. Sanitizer is not supposed to be a product that makes you smell and leave fragrance residues on surfaces. Basic alcohol sanitizer is fine. It evaporates and then that is it.

by loeg 3y ago

14 3y ago

Now I am a little uneasy about the sanitizer I bought. I walked into Walmart one day and they had these giant bottles of liquid hand sanitizer with a 80% alcohol content and it works great and doesn’t leave a residue. It was on for 25cents a bottle when normally something that size would sell for about $8. I couldn’t believe they were getting rid of it for so cheap so bout about 100 bottles and have been using it for months. Wish there was a way I could test for benzene and I wonder if Walmart knew it was bad and decided to dump it on customers so they wouldn’t be sitting with thousands of bottles needing disposal.

burnished 3y ago
Looks like there are kits in the 60-100$ range, a local college chemistry lab might also be able to do it, there may also be a simple test you can apply - sounds like much more effort than what you put in acquiring, might be worthwhile to just cut it at a loss if you think it is a risk at all
neilv 3y ago
> an independent lab in Connecticut called Valisure announced that it had found benzene in the company’s sanitizer. [...] Not long after, a horrified nurse in Arizona captured a photograph of ArtNaturals bottles on sale at her local Walmart for 50 cents, with a sign nearby saying that they used to be $2.97. Your heirs might have a viable lawsuit.
loeg 3y ago
Might as well just toss it unless you regularly need to kill bacteria on your hands away from running water.
Symbiote 3y ago
Chemists used to wash their hands in benzene!
- NotYourLawyer 3y ago
  Doctors used to smoke cigarettes.
dahfizz 3y ago
Are you currently desperate for hand sanitizer? I would just buy some good stuff or go without. I would rather risk a little sniffles than leukemia.
actuallyalys 3y ago
Not sure about testing for benzene, but you can check the FDA's list of sanitizers that should not be used: https://www.fda.gov/drugs/drug-safety-and-availability/fda-updates-hand-sanitizers-consumers-should-not-use https://www.fda.gov/drugs/drug-safety-and-availability/fda-u....

sargun 3y ago

I'm curious, where does the benzene come from? Isn't hand sanitizer just ethanol with scents added, and maybe a gelling agent?

thereisnospork 3y ago
Educated guess: From its use as an azeotrope breaker in the distillation of ethanol from water. Normally its impossible to achieve greater than ~95% ethanol from an ethanol water mixture, but it is possible to achieve ~100% ethanol from a water/benzene/ethanol mixture[0]. [0]There of course have been methods invented which do not involve benzene.
- NotYourLawyer 3y ago
  Makes sense. And benzene is fine for ethanol you’re mixing with gasoline.
  - lesuorac 3y ago
    Not a scientist but I mean mixing a toxic chemical with something that you burn around people sounds not fine.
    - loeg 3y ago
      Benzene combusts to carbon dioxide and water, which are both relatively harmless. (Gasoline is also not something you want on your skin.)
    - NotYourLawyer 3y ago
      Gasoline already has benzene in it. Adding a tiny bit more with the ethanol doesn’t matter.
Sunspark 3y ago
A pet peeve of mine, I don't use public hand sanitizer because all the cheap stuff (probably the same stuff this article talks about) seems maniacally intent on adding really long-lasting fragrance to it. When I say long lasting, I don't mean an hour, I mean you can still smell the added fragrance the NEXT DAY despite washing your hands multiple times since. That stuff's got to be toxic. Something that has fragrance this long-lasting is not a sanitizer, it's an odorant or perfuming agent. Sanitizer is not supposed to be a product that makes you smell and leave fragrance residues on surfaces. Basic alcohol sanitizer is fine. It evaporates and then that is it.