The Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) has 559 pallets of expired hand sanitizer from the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) that could not be used because it was “technical grade” and not safe for daily use.. Distillers switch to hand sanitizersCourtesy CBC .The PHAC gave the sanitizer to Saskatchewan at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, but SHA switched to a “safer” daily use hand sanitizer..The hand sanitizer has technical grade ethanol, which poses health risks, whereas pharmaceutical grade and food grade ethanol have fewer “impurities” and fewer health risks..The federal government gave “temporary” authorization to use the sanitizer to battle the COVID-19 pandemic, as there was a shortage of sanitizer and the “public health benefit outweighed the risks.”.A Health Canada task force said “the probability of serious adverse health consequences is remote” in an April 2020 risk assessment..The manufacturers of the sanitizer warned it was not to be used by anyone pregnant, breastfeeding, or with children..The SHA said a “small amount” of the PHAC sanitizer was used for a “very short period of time.”.Once a daily use hand sanitizer was secured, the SHA switched to the “safer and more effective hand sanitizer.”.Service Employees International Union West President Barbara Cape said the sanitizer was “used for less than two weeks.”.The SHA is not sure of the exact time period or how much was used of the “technical grade” sanitizer..“We are unable to determine the exact quantity and time period in which it was used,” said the SHA..“As soon as the SHA secured its own supply of pharmaceutical grade sanitizer, it ceased distribution of the PHAC supply.”.The SHA could not donate the PHAC sanitizer because of safety reasons and now has to get rid of it, at a cost of over $100,000..READ MORE Sask washing its hands of 559 pallets of expired hand sanitizer
