7-Eleven owner in NJ arrested after selling homemade sanitizer that burned 4 children

RIVER VALE, N.J. — With concerns about the coronavirus mounting, consumers are turning to hand sanitizers and other cleaning products to try to stay germ-free. One product in New Jersey town, however, apparently caused more medical problems.

Police in River Vale warned residents Monday night about a “Spray Sanitizer” product sold at a 7-Eleven after a woman claimed her son had been burned, authorities said.

Update 9:47 a.m. EDT March 11: A 7-Eleven owner in New Jersey was arrested Tuesday and charged with four counts of child endangerment and deceptive business practices for mixing a dangerous recipe of chemicals sold as spray sanitizer that burned four boys, NJ.com reported.

Manisha Bharade, who owns a 7-Eleven in River Vale, was charged and released on a summons, state Attorney General Gurbir Grewal and Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said in a joint statement.

Fourteen bottles of the sanitizer were sold, WPIX reported. Five bottles were surrendered to police and nine remain unaccounted for, the television station reported.

Authorities said three 10-year-olds and an 11-year-old suffered burns from the sanitizer, NJ.com reported.

Original report: Police believe the 3-ounce, mini-spray bottles could be homemade, NJ.com reported. River Vale police were alerted to the product after Lauren Gehm posted photos on Facebook of burns on her son’s arms she claimed occurred after he used the spray.

“Beware hand sanitizers,” Gehm wrote. “We are sitting in the ER with chemical burns due to hand sanitizer loaded with ammonia. (Prob made in a back alley due to all this hype nonsense).”

Gehm’s son suffered first-degree burns, WNBC reported. River Vale police issued a safety alert and seized the remaining bottles at the store, the television station reported.

Gehm posted a label from the bottle, which showed it included ingredients like octyl decyl dimethyl ammonium chloride and dioctyl dimethyl ammonium chloride, according to NJ.com. Those ingredients can cause severe skin burns, according to the National Center for Biotechnology Information.

A woman who answered the telephone at the River Vale 7-Eleven on Tuesday morning told NJ.com the sanitizer is safe but declined further comment.

River Vale police said the incident is under investigation and was reported to county and state officials, the website reported.

“Our first priority is to make the public aware that they should not use this item if they purchased it at the River Vale 7-Eleven,” River Vale police Lt. John DeVoe said. “As far as we know, this issue is limited to the River Vale store at this time.”

Cox Media Group