//It’s easier than ever to make hand sanitizer. But eased restrictions have come with consequences.

It’s easier than ever to make hand sanitizer. But eased restrictions have come with consequences.

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Toxic chemicals and odd smells have plagued some new hand sanitizers, but the demand isn’t going anywhere.

Weeks before the pandemic shut down the country, Robin Christenson woke up in the middle of the night. Initial fears about the virus had started to materialize, and she was worried. Then she came across an article about how there was a shortage of hand sanitizer. Christenson, one of the owners of Blinking Owl, a craft distillery in California, saw an opportunity for her businesses to grow.

“So the next day, I ran to work and I sat down with my head distiller and I said, ‘Can we make hand sanitizer?’” Christenson said.

In March, Americans panicked. They rushed to grocery stores, stockpiling everything from toilet paper to baking yeast, hoping to soothe their anxieties and prepare for the unforeseeable future. Hand sanitizer