Social media users share an image of a Purell hand sanitizer on a metal stand damaged at the base. Users claim that it is caused by the toxic ingredients in Purell. However, there is no evidence to support this claim.
Examples can be seen here and here . The text in the picture reads: “A photo says a million words. GIF ”
The posts do not specify which ingredients it considers toxic.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warns on its website here. against hand cleaners with ingredients such as methanol and 1-propanol, which can be toxic to humans.
The FDA contains a list of hand sanitizers containing toxic ingredients that consumers are not allowed to use, which can be found here. It contains ethyl and isopropyl alcohol as acceptable ingredients.
There are several reasons why the FDA recommends the use of certain disinfectants. These include hand sanitizers that contain or are manufactured in the same facility as products containing methanol or 1-propanol, the microbial contamination of which is recalled by the manufacturer or distributor, subpotential (containing less than the required amount of alcohol) or in a container is packed. can be mistaken for food or drink.
None of Purell’s products are listed among the 232 entries in the FDA’s list. Purell’s ingredients are available here, with 70% ethyl alcohol as the active ingredient and isopropyl alcohol among its inactive ingredients.
Samantha Williams, senior director of corporate communications at GOJO (the parent company of Purell), confirmed to Reuters that Purell hand sanitizers do not contain any toxic ingredients and that hand disinfectants have been used safely for more than three decades.
The safety data sheet for various Purell products can be found at www.gojo.com/en/SDS.
VERDICT
Untrue. Purell contains no toxic ingredients according to the FDA.
This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. Read more about our fact-checking work here.