By John Ikani
The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has cautioned Nigerians against the use of DiBAR Nutritional hand sanitisers.
The warning was contained in a public alert titled “Recall of Hand Sanitizers by DiBAR Nutritional due to the presence of Methanol”.
NAFDAC Director-General, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye said the agency received information from the US Food and Drug Agency (FDA) about the presence of methanol in some sanitisers.
FDA noted that Nutritional S,de R,L De C.V (Dibar) is recalling all Dibar Labs hand sanitisers, ProtectoRX hand sanitisers and Advance hand sanitisers due to concerns.
Methanol or wood alcohol is a substance that can be toxic when absorbed through the skin or ingested and can be life-threatening.
It can result in nausea, vomiting, headache, blurred vision, permanent blindness, seizures, coma, permanent damage to the nervous system or death.
Those at risk include persons who use affected sanitisers on their hands, young children who accidentally ingest the products, and adolescents and adults who drink the products as alcohol (ethanol) substitutes.
Adeyeye stressed that methanol is not an acceptable ingredient for hand sanitisers and must not be used due to its toxicity.
The agency asked Nigerians experiencing the listed symptoms to seek treatment for a potential reversal of toxic effects of poisoning.
NAFDAC further implored importers, distributors, retailers and consumers to avoid the distribution, sale and use of methanol alcohol-based hand sanitisers.
