FDA Reviews Effectiveness Of Hand Sanitizers

Federal health officials want to know if hand sanitizers really work.  That's a question that's been kicked around for years.

The FDA is asking if hand sanitizers really work as well as manufacturers claim.  To get the answer, the agency is asking for new studies.

The agency wants to know specifically how the anti-septic gels fight germs and get absorbed into the body, particularly on children and pregnant women.

The proposal is part of an ongoing effort to review decades of old chemicals that have never been under federal review.

The agency is also concerned about long-term effects of frequent use.

Under current regulations, manufacturers can make broad claims about their products' effectiveness in killing germs.

But FDA regulators suggest they may tighten such claims after the new studies are published.

The FDA says it will collect data on the chemical used with the goal of issuing new rules on its use by early 2018.