KATHMANDU: The Department of Drug Management has banned hand sanitizers of six companies.
The department recently banned the sale and distribution of hand sanitizers of various companies as they contained methanol that is harmful to human health. The department learnt about the methanol content during its market monitoring.
Director General of the Department, Bharat Bhattarai, informed that the production and sale of certain brands of hand sanitizer had been halted after a sample of hand sanitizer was collected in the market and tested at the National Pharmaceutical Laboratory.
According to him, 80 percent of methanol was found in 50 ml and 88 ml methanol in 500 ml sanitizer produced by Sita Herbal Sunsari.
Similarly, methanol was found in the sanitizers produced by Makalu Herb of Sunsari, Sunima Ayurveda Company in Morang, MK Herbal of Lalitpur and Galaxy Dental and Surgical located in Morang.
Urging the public not to use the products of the banned companies, it has instructed the erring companies to immediately stop the sale and distribution of their products and take them back from the market.
Earlier, the department had banned sanitizers manufactured by various Indian, Chinese and Nepali companies due to poor quality.