Sanitisers in Tshwane not to WHO standards – expert

Local hand sanitisers, meant to be the first line of defence for the public in the fight against Covid-19 in the Tshwane metro, are of “low quality”.

This was according to Dr Abdullahi Ahmed Yusuf, senior lecturer in entomology at the University of Pretoria (UP).

Yusuf analysed 50 products of different origins and formulations obtained off the shelf and in public places in and around Tshwane, for their alcohol content using gas chromatography.

He said he had found that commercial, off-the-shelf hand sanitisers used by the public in and around Tshwane, were “substandard”.

This after a direct rapid, reproducible gas chromatography method for the determination of alcohol composition in hand sanitisers was used for quality control, which was developed and optimised as part of the study.

“They do not contain the recommended alcohol content, and are mostly incorrectly labelled according to local and international standards.”

Yusuf said a vast majority of the products analysed during the study found that the sanitiser solutions did not contain alcohol compositions for ethanol and isopropanol, as recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

“Most did not have the required 70% ethanol recommended by the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.”

He said alcohol content and concentrations were imperative for a sanitiser to have virucidal activity.

“Only 21 (42%) of the products analysed contained at least 70% alcohol. Of these, only 14 (28%) met the WHO’s recommended 80% alcohol content to have a virucidal effect on Sars-CoV-2.”

The study found that of the 41 commercial off-the-shelf products analysed, 27 (66%) contained less than 70% alcohol in comparison to 13% of homemade products.

“Ironically, homemade alcohol-based hand sanitisers conformed to a greater degree to WHO standards.”

Only 18% of gel products contained 70% alcohol, compared with 47% for liquid-based products.

“Most of the products did not contain the appropriate or correct declaration as recommended by the South African National Standards.

“These findings suggest a widespread lack of adherence to the required composition.

“The results from the study, which involved testing a range of readily available sanitisers in the Tshwane area for compliance with international standards, are concerning, particularly as we head into the fourth wave and rely on this non-pharmaceutical intervention for limiting the spread of the virus,” Yusuf said.

He said there were several substandard hand sanitisers, which were allegedly driven largely by profit.

Yusuf said due to ethanol being an expensive solution, “if you cut corners on 10%, that equates to more profit”.

According to Yusuf, government monitoring of sanitiser products was critical, as some manufacturers had failed to spell out the ingredients of the goods, which was a deviation from the local standard.

He said through the study, they were concerned over the inconsistency in the amount of ethanol in the tested sanitisers.

“Ethanol was the most common alcohol used, followed by isopropanol.”

He said substandard sanitisers further did not seem to be limited to Gauteng only, as anecdotal evidence pointed out to the problem being spread countrywide.

He said the growth of substandard hand sanitisers called for stricter regulation and enforcement to protect the public, their rights and their well-being during and after the Covid-19 pandemic period.

“It is evident from these results that there is a need to monitor the manufacture of off-the-shelf products to ensure compliance and to assure consumers that products offer the required protection against Sars-CoV-2,” he said.

The study’s findings were published in the South African Journal of Science, https://doi.org/10.17159/sajs.2021/9328