Bob Farney

Hoda made an error this AM following the section on methanol contamination of hand sanitizers. She said that viewers must carefully read the labels on sanitizer bottles to avoid sanitizers manufactured with methanol. As a retired chemist, I can tell you that the danger of repeated exposure to methanol even through the skin is very real and can eventually lead to blindness. But contrary to Hoda's comment, if you think about it, If a sanitizer contains poisonous methanol instead of expected ethanol, the bootleg manufacturer isn't going to list poisonous methanol as an ingredient on the label. So no amount of careful label reading will protect sanitizer users from inadvertently using a poisonous sanitizer. The only preventative is to read the FDA list of contaminated sanitizers and avoid those products by name and manufacturer, not by contents listed on the label. Hoda should correct her statement to avoid misleading listeners and to increase protection against contaminated sanitizers.