Chula Pharmaceutical Science helps increase public confidence to keep COVID-19 at bay with their new test kit to verify the safety and efficacy of hand sanitizers and alcohol-based gel and spray products.
Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, many are now accustomed with the New Normal lifestyle in which require social distancing, frequent hand washing, and sanitizing with hand sanitizer and alcohol sprays to clean their hands and belongings. But how can we be sure that the products we use are safe for our health and effective in cleaning and disinfecting? thai university
Asst. Prof. Dr. Supakarn Chamni, Department of Pharmacognosy and Pharmaceutical Botany, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Science, Chulalongkorn University, explained the problems of hand-sanitizing gel and spray products as appeared in the media and reported from the Smart Buy Testing Center, The Foundation for Consumers.
“Sixty-seven percent of the products surveyed have alcohol concentration lower than 70% by volume, which is not adequate for killing germs. Moreover, these products were found to be contaminated with harmful chemicals that could irritate the respiratory tract, and if it gets into the eyes, can cause blindness.”
Based on such concerns, Asst. Prof. Dr. Supakarn has developed the Q-E-S-T 3-in-1 Alcohol Test Kit to enable the public to check the standards and safety of alcohol and sanitizing products by themselves.
“This test can analyze both the type and concentration of alcohol to confirm the effectiveness of its cleaning and disinfection property to reduce the risk of spreading the COVID-19 virus.”
Get to Know the different types of alcohol
Alcohol has antimicrobial properties against viruses, bacteria, and fungi, by killing or stopping the growth of the microbes and can therefore be used to clean and disinfect the skin and various surfaces.
There are different types of alcohol depending on their chemical structures:
Ethanol and isopropanol are the alcohol types used for human consumption. Ethanol is the alcohol found in liquor. It can be used both externally and orally. It costs the highest compared to other types of alcohol. Isopropanol is for external use only, such as for cleaning wounds.
Methanol is an alcohol used in the fuel industry. It is a solvent in the paint industry and a precursor in the plastics industry.
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