FDA Warns of Contaminated Hand Sanitizers

[Devonai]

From Fox News:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,525520,00.html

The Food and Drug Administration warned consumers Monday not to use skin products made by Clarcon because of high levels of disease-causing bacteria found during a recent inspection.

Clarcon Biological Chemistry Laboratory Inc. of Roy, Utah, issued a voluntary recall of some skin sanitizers and skin protectants marketed under several different brand names, the FDA said in a statement.

Consumers should not use any Clarcon products and should throw them away, the FDA said.

Analyses of several samples of over-the-counter topical antimicrobial skin sanitizer and skin protectant products revealed high levels of various bacteria, including some associated with unsanitary conditions, according to the agency. Some of these bacteria can cause opportunistic infections of the skin and underlying tissues and could result in medical or surgical attention as well as permanent damage.

Examples of products that should be discarded include Citrushield Lotion, Dermasentials DermaBarrier, Dermassentials by Clarcon, Antimicrobial Hand Sanitizer, Iron Fist Barrier Hand Treatment, Skin Shield Restaurant, Skin Shield Industrial, Skin Shield Beauty Salon Lotion, Total Skin Care Beauty and Total Skin Care Work.

The FDA said its findings, following a recent inspection of the Clarcon facility, are particularly concerning because the products are promoted as antimicrobial agents that claim to treat open wounds and damaged skin and protect against various infectious diseases. The inspection uncovered serious deviations from FDA's Good Manufacturing Practice requirements, the agency said.

Calls to Clarcon for comment Monday night were not answered.

I don't get it.  Isn't the active ingredient in hand sanitizers ethyl alcohol?  What can survive floating in that for more than 15 seconds?

[Iain]

Interesting. I know that Burkholderia cepacia can persist in betadine, which is a little freaky.

[Brad Johnson]

Interesting. I know that Burkholderia cepacia can persist in betadine, which is a little freaky.

Extremophiles at sea vents live in temp, pressure, salinity, and acidity conditions that were considered uniformly lethal to any kind of life, microbial or otherwise, just a few decades ago.

Brad

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

what caliber for zombie bacteria

[Firethorn]

I don't get it.  Isn't the active ingredient in hand sanitizers ethyl alcohol?  What can survive floating in that for more than 15 seconds?

Many hand sanitizing lotions today are non-alcohol to prevent drying of the skin, hobos stealing it to drink, meet the demands of the overly religious* in certain religions, etc...

Looking at what I can get with the internet, I'm willing to bet that the products are non-alcoholic.

*In my opinion.  The religions themselves only state that you're not supposed to drink the stuff...

[freedom lover]

If they don't contain alchohol what do they contain? Antibiotics? Gasoline?

what caliber for zombie bacteria

You have to take off and nuke the site from orbit to be sure.

[makattak]

Many hand sanitizing lotions today are non-alcohol to prevent drying of the skin, hobos stealing it to drink, meet the demands of the overly religious* in certain religions, etc...

Looking at what I can get with the internet, I'm willing to bet that the products are non-alcoholic.

*In my opinion.  The religions themselves only state that you're not supposed to drink the stuff...

Seriously? People are DRINKING products with isopropyl Alcohol? Enough that new products have been created?

Edit: Ah, someone said earlier it's ethyl alcohol. Less weird, but still!

[red headed stranger]

what caliber for zombie bacteria

very very tiny bullets. 

[Iain]

Extremophiles at sea vents live in temp, pressure, salinity, and acidity conditions that were considered uniformly lethal to any kind of life, microbial or otherwise, just a few decades ago.

Brad

I know, B. cepacia is something I do not want.

Also on the wiki talk page:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -- GALLATIN, TN, November 13, 2008 – CSI, USA, Inc. issued a voluntary nationwide consumer product recall of all lots of 1 ounce (28 g) tubes of 10% Benzoyl Peroxide Acne Cream with the following names: "DG Maximum Strength Acne Medicated Gel" (sold at Dollar General); "Kroger Acne Gel 10% Benzoyl Peroxide Acne Medication" (sold at Kroger); and "Equate: Medicated Acne Gel" (sold at Wal-Mart).

These products are being recalled because samples of the products were found to contain bacteria identified as "Burkholderia Cepacia," formerly known as Pseudomonas Cepacia.

There's a war on people.

[Marnoot]

Many hand sanitizing lotions today are non-alcohol to prevent drying of the skin, hobos stealing it to drink, meet the demands of the overly religious* in certain religions, etc...

Looking at what I can get with the internet, I'm willing to bet that the products are non-alcoholic.

*In my opinion.  The religions themselves only state that you're not supposed to drink the stuff...

Any examples of members of religions claiming prohibition of alcohol in hand sanitizer? I'm just curious, I haven't heard of that before.

[KD5NRH]

Many hand sanitizing lotions today are non-alcohol to prevent drying of the skin, hobos stealing it to drink, meet the demands of the overly religious* in certain religions, etc...

Also, if they're intended to "treat open wounds and damaged skin," they would be unlikely to contain alcohol, since it would hurt a lot.

[Devonai]

Also, if they're intended to "treat open wounds and damaged skin," they would be unlikely to contain alcohol, since it would hurt a lot.

That's how you know it's working!

[MechAg94]

If they don't contain alchohol what do they contain? Antibiotics? Gasoline?

You have to take off and nuke the site from orbit to be sure.

I don't know, but we carry CO, O2, and LEL (flamability) monitors whenever we go out in the plant at work.  The hand sanitizer sets off the monitor, but lots of hydrocarbons and hydrogen set off the monitor in addition to those two things.

[Scout26]

Bring back Mercurochrome !!!!

[Firethorn]

Any examples of members of religions claiming prohibition of alcohol in hand sanitizer? I'm just curious, I haven't heard of that before.

I remember it being for muslims, found an article about British Muslims refusing the alcoholic stuff
Muslims 'refuse anti-MRSA gel'

I don't know, but we carry CO, O2, and LEL (flamability) monitors whenever we go out in the plant at work.  The hand sanitizer sets off the monitor, but lots of hydrocarbons and hydrogen set off the monitor in addition to those two things.

Most hand sanitizers are alcohol based.  A few are not.  The ones that don't rely much more heavily on the same anti-biotics present in anti-bacterial hand soap.

[Marnoot]

I remember it being for muslims, found an article about British Muslims refusing the alcoholic stuff
Muslims 'refuse anti-MRSA gel'

Most hand sanitizers are alcohol based.  A few are not.  The ones that don't rely much more heavily on the same anti-biotics present in anti-bacterial hand soap.

Ah. That relates to the Muslim grocery-store workers who refuse to touch packages of bacon and such at checkout. Isn't the whole halal thing solely a dietary restriction? I've never heard that Islam prohibits even the touching of things forbidden to consume.

[Firethorn]

I've never heard that Islam prohibits even the touching of things forbidden to consume.

Thus my line in the original post that spawned this line:
meet the demands of the overly religious*
*In my opinion.  The religions themselves only state that you're not supposed to drink the stuff....

They're going 'above and beyond' in ways that only those in a civilized country would be able to.

[PTK]

Bring back Mercurochrome !!!!

People don't still use that? Bottles of it are about $.79 here.

[Firethorn]

People don't still use that? Bottles of it are about $.79 here.

It's banned in some states for being 'unsafe':

Merbromin(marketed as Mercurochorome):

The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) removed it from the "generally recognized as safe" and into the "untested" classification to effectively halt its distribution in the United States in 1998 over fears of potential mercury poisoning. [1] It is readily available in most other countries.

If you're getting it at the stores, it's likely 'wink-wink' as a not for antiseptic use.  Shipping is forbidden across state lines if marketed for medical use.

[Iain]

If read up on it, it wasn't really banned. When the FDA came into existence there were already plenty of products on the market that hadn't been through FDA testing, or perhaps any thorough testing. Eventually the FDA looked at mercurochrome, and eventually moved it into this 'untested' category, which essentially meant that it isn't available.

It can be moved out of the 'untested' category, if someone, you know, tests it.

It'll be unpatentable, therefore the expense of testing it will never be worthwhile. That's not really the FDAs fault, although (and this will be unpopular) there is a good argument in favour of 3rd parties testing drugs and receiving funding to do so. Might help with making sure that the testing is accurate, that baselines aren't shifted, that proper outcomes are monitored and that data is available for scrutiny.

[Firethorn]

If read up on it, it wasn't really banned.

At a federal level.  You can't ship it across state lines if it's for medical use(it still has uses in science class as a dye, though). 

Oh, and some research shows that 'Merthiolate tincture' is a copycat - it doesn't contain any Merbromin, and at least one doctor's opinion is the only good to it is it's high alcohol concentration.  It's red because it has Red #22 dye.

[PTK]

Huh... King Soopers (Kroger) sells it here in Colorado.

[Brad Johnson]

Mercurochrome?  Bah.  Buncha sissies.

A real man uses Bactine ... original forumal.  Nothing like spraying an open wound with pure alcohol under high pressure. (My mother bought the stuff by the case. If we had a boo-boo we would do anything - tell a lie, knock over a bank, take the neighbor kids hostage, whatever - to keep her from grabbing that damn can...)

Brad

[Waitone]

A real man uses Bactine ... original forumal.  Nothing like spraying an open wound with pure alcohol under high pressure.

Ain't it the truth!  When I was a kid I suffered a playground scrap on my chest.  Multiple square inches in size.  Coach thought I needed medical attention so he whips out The Can and hoses me down.  To this day I blanch just thinkin' about the incident.

[Strings]

>Bring back Mercurochrome !!!!<

Heh... I STILL have a couple old glass bottles of the stuff laying around here somewhere. One full, one mostly...

And you speak the truth about Bactine: we too would have gone to any lengths to avoid that stuff. I remember having a LONG discussion with my mother about hydrogen peroxide when I discovered what it was and could do: she still prefered the Bactine (on us)...