Artnaturals Hand Sanitizer Contains ‘Dangerous’ Levels of Carcinogen Benzene, Class Action Alleges

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A proposed class action claims purportedly “natural” and “chemical-free” Artnaturals gel hand sanitizers contain undisclosed amounts of the carcinogen benzene.

According to the case, the hand sanitizers made by defendant Virgin Scent, Inc., who does business as Artnaturals, contain “dangerously high levels” of benzene, a toxic substance linked to leukemia and other cancers. The lawsuit says that any amount of benzene is unacceptable in liquid hand sanitizers, and the presence of benzene in the Artnaturals products renders them “unsafe and worthless,” not to mention illegal to sell under federal and state law.

The case claims consumers would not have purchased the Artnaturals hand sanitizers had they known the items contained benzene and were unfit to be used by humans.

Benzene is widely known to cause cancer and other health problems in humans and until March 2020 was prohibited in hand sanitizer products by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the lawsuit explains. As demand for hand sanitizers increased amid the COVID-19 pandemic, however, the FDA issued emergency guidance that established an interim limit of 2 parts per million (ppm) of benzene in alcohol-based hand sanitizer products, the case relays.

The lawsuit alleges, however, that the FDA’s interim policy applies only to liquid hand sanitizers, and not gels like the Artnaturals products.

“Accordingly, as to gel or non-liquid hand sanitizer products, such as Defendant’s Products at issue here, there is no acceptable level of benzene,” the complaint states.

The suit goes on to state that analytical laboratory Valisure LLC tested 168 brands of gel hand sanitizers and detected “concerning” levels of benzene in many of them, including the defendant’s products. Per the case, two samples of Artnaturals hand sanitizers contained 16.1 ppm and 15.2 ppm of benzene, respectively—or roughly eight times the emergency limit set by the FDA.

Because benzene was detected in every sample of the defendant’s products tested by Valisure, its presence is “pervasive” across Artnaturals’ products, the lawsuit contends.

According to the complaint, the FDA performed its own testing of Artnaturals Scent Free Hand Sanitizer and found “unacceptable levels of benzene, acetaldehyde, and acetal contaminants.” Per the suit, the FDA stated that the defendant had failed to respond to “multiple FDA attempts to discuss the Products.”

In October 2021, the FDA announced that Artnaturals was recalling limited batches of eight-ounce bottles of its Scent Free Hand Sanitizer, though “no further action has been taken,” according to the complaint.

The lawsuit says that because the defendant has failed to disclose the presence of benzene in its products, consumers have no way of knowing that the hand sanitizer may contain more than eight times the emergency limit of the dangerous substance.

As the lawsuit tells it, Artnaturals has “disregarded” current good manufacturing practices (GMP) and failed to test its products for benzene and other contaminants. As a result, the defendant’s hand sanitizers are adulterated and misbranded under federal and California law, the suit alleges.

“As the Products expose consumers to benzene well above any permissible limit (which in this case is zero), the Products are not fit for ordinary reasonably foreseeable use by humans,” the complaint alleges. “Defendant’s Products were unmerchantable because the Products contained dangerous levels of benzene, and were therefore adulterated, misbranded, and illegal to sell in the United States.”

The lawsuit, which was initially filed in November 2021 in San Diego County Superior Court before being removed to California’s Southern District Court on February 4, 2022, looks to cover California citizens who purchased the Artnaturals hand sanitizer products at retail in the state for personal use and not for resale on or after November 16, 2018 and until notice is sent to the class.

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