FDA Testing Methods To Evaluate Hand Sanitizers

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced this week that it is providing a form of laboratory testing to help grade the quality of hand sanitizer products that are about to go to market.

The purpose of the testing is to verify that the hand sanitizers feature all the ingredients necessary to function and don't contain dangerous amounts of impurities, according to the FDA. These testing methods help to assess hand sanitizers featuring ethanol, isopropanol, and 2-propanol as an active ingredient. By testing for impurities, the exams should be able to identify methanol contamination, which has been an issue as of late. The FDA has identified 165 hand sanitizers that it deems too dangerous for public use since late spring. 

While some hand sanitizers are being shunned, it's possible that others could begin to be embraced. A study shows that one manufacturer's line of non-alcohol, paraben-free and vegan hand sanitizers is capable of killing 99.999 percent of germs, reports Canadian Manufacturing.