Citation

Krebs NP, Czarnecki L. Acad. Forensic Pathol. 2022; 12(3): 90-94.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2022, National Association of Medical Examiners)

DOI

10.1177/19253621221108622

PMID

36093375

PMCID

PMC9459400

Abstract

Methanol toxicity and its associated pathologies have been widely studied, however, at
the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, there was an increase in methanol toxicity due to
apparent consumption of contaminated hand sanitizer. We report a cluster of five deaths
and one presumed death due to the apparent consumption of hand sanitizer, contaminated
with methanol, in the setting of chronic alcoholism. The deaths occurred in Coconino
County, Arizona, over a four-and-a-half-month period (June-October 2020), before and
during a Food and Drug Administration recall of contaminated hand sanitizer.
Methanol-related deaths are relatively uncommon in Coconino County, with only one methanol
associated death (source of ingestion unknown) occurring over the previous five years.

Language: en