In a separate citizen petition published in May, Valisure said it found benzene in 78 batches of sunscreen and after-sun care products made by major brands including Neutrogena, Aveeno and CVS Health. Valisure also found elevated levels of benzene in sanitizer made by the company Scentsational Soaps & Candles, which in response issued a voluntary recall in April after confirming the presence of benzene and other contaminants. The FDA can’t force recalls on over-the-counter drugs, but it can pressure companies to do so voluntarily through public warnings. The situation highlights regulators’ lack of authority over over-the-counter-drug products like hand sanitizers. 4: “To date, the scope of overall contamination is still under investigation and FDA is urging consumers not to use any Artnaturals hand sanitizers.” Informed of Ridgely’s test results, the FDA’s press team sent a statement to NBC News on Nov. He did not answer a list of specific questions or comment directly on the Valisure lab’s work. “Out of an abundance of caution, Artnaturals retested all alcohol products and confirmed that those items are free from impurities and are safe to use,” Joseph Nourollah, the CEO and founder of Artnaturals, said in an emailed statement to NBC News. Walmart did not respond to a request for comment from NBC News.Īrtnaturals continues to insist that its sanitizers are not contaminated with benzene. The company assured customers through the FDA that “product purchased from Walmart, Target, Costco, RiteAid, Publix, HEB and Amazon were not affected.”īut Ridgely said she bought the contaminated hand sanitizer at Walmart and, according to her test results, it was not labeled with any lot number. 26, Artnaturals announced that it would voluntarily recall a limited amount of its 8-ounce Scent Free Hand Sanitizers, labeled with the lot number G20128A. 4, the FDA published a notice that it had found “unacceptable levels of benzene,” as well as the toxic chemicals acetaldehyde and acetal in Artnaturals hand sanitizers, and said that the company had been ignoring the agency’s attempts to discuss the contamination. The company did not clarify which “inaccurate” article or study they were referring to. “Simply put, the inaccurate article publishing misleading results about our product was 100 percent wrong,” Artnaturals repeated in emails and Facebook comments to customers reviewed by NBC News. Kayla Ridgely bought Artnaturals sanitizer from Walmart and later learned it was contaminated with benzene. The company responded to Ridgely in the thread by saying they were considering suing any publication that wrote about the findings. She also left a comment on the Artnaturals Facebook page. Ridgely, the nurse who bought the Artnaturals hand sanitizer that Valisure said was contaminated, wrote to Walmart in March and said the retailer never responded. In the case of hand sanitizer, regulators and industry have been slow to act, according to consumers and experts. The brand’s parent company P&G did not respond to NBC News’ request for comment.Ĭonsumers are left largely in the dark about the scope of the problem. 3 petition that Valisure sent to the FDA, some samples of Old Spice antiperspirant had levels of benzene at 17 parts per million. Over the past year, Valisure tests have found benzene in everyday consumer products like sunscreen, antifungal sprays and most recently, antiperspirant sprays. His lab’s research into hand sanitizers was the start of a disturbing trend. It’s a group one carcinogen, it’s at the top of the FDA list of chemicals not to use in manufacturing,” David Light, the CEO of the Valisure lab, said. It’s directly linked with causing leukemia in humans. “The toxicity of benzene has been known for over 120 years. So Ridgely submitted hers and received results in April that it was contaminated with benzene at levels of 13 parts per million - thousands of times above the EPA’s benzene limits of 5 parts per billion in drinking water, and more than six times above the FDA’s temporary guidance during the pandemic allowing trace amounts of benzene in over-the-counter drugs. It also offered on its website to test more samples free of charge to anyone else who would send their sanitizer in. Valisure, the lab that made findings about benzene in samples of Artnaturals sanitizer and other brands, had submitted a citizen petition in March asking the FDA to take action on Artnaturals and other hand sanitizer products.
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