Walmart Sold Hand Sanitizer With ‘Dangerously High Levels’ of Carcinogenic, Class Action Claims

Walmart profited at customers’ expense during the pandemic by selling hand sanitizers made with “dangerous” amounts of a cancer-causing chemical more commonly found in gasoline, a new lawsuit claims.

In the proposed nationwide class action lawsuit filed Wednesday in the Southern District of Florida, Plaintiff Zelda Brodowicz took aim at Walmart and Virgin Scent, the manufacturer of the hand sanitizers sold at the retail giant under the brand ArtNaturals.

Brodowicz said at least 13 hand sanitizers sold through Walmart were recently tested, and have been found to contain improper levels of benzene, a known human carcinogen. 

Benzene is typically used in the manufacture of gasoline and other industry chemicals or textiles, the class action lawsuit stated, with regulators lowering the amount allowed in gasoline in 2011. The American Cancer Society also warns against exposure to benzene, which is typically found in cigarette smoke and exhaust fumes.

There was no mention of benzene on the product labels, Brodowicz alleges, leading customers to apply the carcinogen to their skin without realizing.

“Plaintiff and other class members directly unknowingly purchased Defendants’ Hand Sanitizer Products to apply the product to their bodies… when the products contained undisclosed levels of benzene impurities well beyond the levels that would be permissible in gasoline,” the lawsuit states.

Prior to 2020 the FDA — which oversees hand sanitizer as an over-the-counter drug — did not allow any benzene in hand sanitizer products because of the public health risk, according to the class action lawsuit. 

But due to the public health crisis brought on by the pandemic, the FDA issued a temporary policy allowing trace levels of benzene at two parts per million for certain products. 

However, the lawsuit claims, not only do the levels of benzene found in the ArtNaturals products greatly exceed the amount allowed, the manufacturer and retailer didn’t disclose that there was any benzene in them at all.

The contents only came to light due to testing by the independent pharmacy Valisure. 

“Valisure’s testing found benzene present at levels in the Hand Sanitizer Products ranging from 2.2ppm to 16.1ppm – all of which were over the 2ppm interim level (assuming it even applied to the product, i.e., if the product was not a gel or foam),” the lawsuit said.

Valisure submitted a Citizen Petition to the FDA concerning its testing of the products on Wednesday, the same day the lawsuit was filed. 

Brodowicz says she bought two bottles of Artnaturals scent free hand sanitizer at a Florida Walmart in March this year. She said neither of the bottles, nor anything else published by Walmart or Virgin Scent, disclosed that the products contained benzene, “let alone at levels above the FDA’s interim limits.”

She said Walmart had a duty to ensure the hand sanitizer products it sourced and sold to consumers did not contain excessive benzene. 

Brodowicz is suing the retailer and sanitizer manufacturer under breach of warranty laws, as well as for fraud, negligent misrepresentation and omission and violation of state consumer protection laws. She is also suing for unjust enrichment and negligence.

The lawsuit seeks to represent a nationwide class of consumers who bought at least one of the hand sanitizers since Jan. 1, 2015. It also seeks to represent a Florida subclass. 

Brodowicz is seeking class action certification, an injunction, damages, attorney’s fees, statutory penalties, interest and a jury trial.

Meanwhile, since the beginning of the pandemic, hand sanitizer has been at the center of a number of class action lawsuits. CVS is also currently facing a proposed class action alleging a hand sanitizer it sells does not kill 99.9 percent of germs, as it says on the label. 

Did you know hand sanitizers could contain harmful chemicals? Let us know in the comments. 

The plaintiffs are represented by Ruben Honik, David J. Stanoch of Honik Law, Daniel Nigh of Levin, Papantonio, Thomas, Mitchell Rafferty & Proctor, Conlee S. Whiteley and Layne Hilton of Kanner & Whiteley and George T. Williamson of Farr, Farr, Emerich Hackett, Carr & Holmes.

The Walmart Benzene Hand Sanitizer Class Action Lawsuit is Zelda Brodowicz et al. v. Virgin Scent, Inc. D/B/A Artnaturals, Inc., Walmart, Inc., Case No. 0:21-cv-60643-XXXX, in the United States District Court Southern District of Florida.

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