The Food and Drug Administration announced Thursday that it will investigate the three most common active ingredients in hand sanitizers to make sure they are safe and effective.
Manufacturers of hand sanitizers will provide the FDA with more information about the three ingredients used in about 97 percent of all hand sanitizers to verify that they are safe for daily use. The FDA, said, however, that the announcement does not mean it believes the ingredients to be unsafe or harmful.
The FDA announced the review while finalizing a safety rule for hand sanitizers, which ruled out the use of 28 active ingredients. Many of these products have already been taken off the market.
“Our action today aims to help provide consumers with confidence that the over-the-counter hand sanitizers they’re using are safe and effective when they don’t have access to water to wash with soap,” said Janet Woodcock, director of the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research.
Young children and new mothers are using hand sanitizer more than ever, but the FDA is seeking to ensure “the benefits of hand sanitizers outweigh the risks” by reviewing the three ingredients: benzalkonium chloride, ethyl alcohol, and isopropyl alcohol.
“For example, in the last few years, we have learned that some active ingredients in these antiseptics can be absorbed through the skin,” the agency said in a statement. “As people use hand sanitizers more often, we want to make sure that any absorption is minimal and not harmful.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that alcohol-based hand sanitizers cannot replace regularly washing with plain soap and water, but they are a suitable alternative when washing one’s hands is not possible.
