Eskbiochem recalled its 2020 hand sanitizer after methanol was found in some products.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Eskbiochem recalled several hand-sanitizer products after testing found methanol, also called wood alcohol, instead of or in addition to the expected ethanol or isopropyl alcohol. Methanol can be toxic if swallowed and can cause blindness, neurological injury, or death.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration identified the products and warned consumers not to use them. The recall was part of a much larger 2020 enforcement effort involving hand sanitizers made by numerous companies, but Eskbiochem was one of the early widely reported cases.
Methanol is different from methyl alcohol’s safe-to-use alternatives in ordinary hand sanitizers. Consumers were told not to pour recalled sanitizer down household drains because disposal requirements can vary. The recall concerned contamination and labeling, not a failure of alcohol-based sanitizer to kill germs when correctly formulated.