March 30, 2021: Day 106
Today, I received Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccination #2 by the county health department. It was well-organized, with the entire process taking 45 minutes. I’m hoping for a rapid resolution of remaining symptoms, strong fatigue and loss of taste & smell.
Near the exit were free samples of packages of face masks and hand sanitizer bottles. I was shocked to discover that the hand sanitizer being distributed by the county was no other than the brand with the highest level of benzene found in a recent test by an independent lab.
The hand sanitizer is artnaturals Scent Free Hand Sanitizer Natural Elements + Cleansing Formula.
A recent independent lab analysis of 260 SKUs (168 brands) of hand sanitizers tested for benzene levels. Benzene is a serious, confirmed carcinogen and may be toxic at any detectable level. artnaturals brand had the highest benzene level of all hand sanitizers tested. During COVID-19, FDA set a temporary benzene limit of 2 ppm for hand sanitizers, to ease the supply chain bottleneck. Previously, the limit was 0 ppm benzene. The artnaturals hand sanitizer was found to have a benzene level of 16.1 ppm.
The full report may be found here: Valisure-FDA-Citizen-Petition-on-Hand-Sanitizer-v4.14.pdf
I contacted county health officials and alerted them to this. Their response was to immediately stop distributing this product to the public. That was a fast and positive reaction.
