Class Action Lawsuit Claims That Hand Sanitizers Are Dangerous

Artnaturals, Inc., Virgin Scent, Inc., and Walmart, Inc. were charged with a class action lawsuit alleging that the companies sold hand sanitizers that contained dangerous ingredients.

Zelda Brodowicz, the lead plaintiff, filed the class action lawsuit against the three companies in a southern Florida federal court in March 2021.

According to the class action lawsuit, the companies sold misleadingly advertised hand sanitizers.

It adds that the hand sanitizers that the companies were selling contained a huge amount of chemicals that can cause cancer.

The class action lawsuit seeks to represent individuals residing in the United States who bought any of the alleged products from January 1, 2015.

Plaintiff Allegations

Virgin Scent Inc. sells its products under Artnaturals Inc. 

During the coronavirus pandemic, the lead plaintiff argues that Artnaturals Inc. sold products that are dangerous to human health to take advantage of the situation and gain huge profit.

The class action lawsuit states that aside from hand sanitizers sold under the Artnaturals Inc. brand, the following products sold under these brands also contain high amounts of toxic chemicals:

• Beauty Concepts
• Body Prescriptions
• Born Basic
• Clean-Protect-Sanitize
• Huangjisoo
• Lavender & Herbs
• Miami Carry On
• Natural Wunderz
• PureLogic
• Puretize
• Star Wars Mandalorian
• The Creme Shop
• TrueWash

The lead plaintiff claims that the hand sanitizers sold under these brands contain benzene, a chemical known to cause cancer in humans.

She contends that the companies did not inform customers that the products contained potentially carcinogenic substances. 

FDA Guidance

The class action lawsuit attests that before 2020, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) did not permit benzene or ethanol-based chemicals on hand sanitizers because of their potential dangerous risk to humans.

However, in March 2020, during the coronavirus pandemic, the FDA issued guidance allowing small amounts of benzene due to the limited supply and high demand for sanitizers.

According to the FDA, they will permit the use of benzene not exceeding two parts per million (ppm). 

It adds that this limit does not cover hand sanitizer gels and foam products. Companies were also advised to test the levels of ethanol-based chemicals.

Product Tests

The class action lawsuit declares that a third-party pharmacy, Valisure, conducted a test to check the alleged products. 

On March 24, 2021, the results of the test were submitted to the FDA.

According to the results, the products contained a very dangerous amount of benzene impurities. 

It adds that the level of benzene found on the products is higher than the allowed amount of benzene on gasoline.

The results showed that the hand sanitizers contained 2.2 ppm to 16.1 ppm of benzene. The amount of benzene found was significantly higher than the limit set and allowed to the FDA.

The lead plaintiff complains that Virgin Scent Inc. did not conduct adequate testing on their Artnaturals hand sanitizers to check that they contained only the acceptable amount of benzene.

She adds that Walmart was also negligent that the products they were selling were tested properly and are safe to use for their consumers.

Editor’s Note on Hand Sanitizer Class Action Lawsuit Against Walmart, Artnaturals, & Virgin Scent:

This article is published to inform you of the latest class action lawsuit filed against Virgin Scent Inc., Artnaturals Inc., and Walmart due to alleged dangerous hand sanitizers.

What are your thoughts on this piece? Have you bought hand sanitizers manufactured by Virgin Scent?

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