Methanol detection in commercial sanitizing gels, during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

The ethanol (active) and methanol (toxic) substances content were quantified for commercial sanitizing gels. The health emergency caused by the COVID-19 epidemic has motivated to production of sanitizing gels to cover higher demand. The analytical composition of 24 commercial gels is reported (15 produced by national and transnational companies, and 9 collected gels which were in use at public areas). From the results it was found, that only one brand of 15 gels meets the quality requirements regarding 70% (wt./wt.) of ethanol content. Concerning to the collected gels, none of them contains the minimum active compound required. The non-compliance of this requirement means that these gels present its sanitizing action diminished. A striking result is that 25% of commercially packaged gels contain methanol - a toxic substance - in alarming amounts, hundreds of times more than the FDA upper limits requirement. DOI: https://doi.org/10.54167/tecnociencia.v15i1.761

Keywords

• metanol
• etanol
• geles sanitizantes
• sars Cov-2
• Covid-19