DIKUL - logo
E-resources
Peer reviewed Open access
  • Methanol detection in comme...
    De la Torre Sáenz, Luis; Lardizábal-Gutiérrez, Daniel; Estrada-Guel, Ivanovich; Paraguay-Delgado, Francisco

    Tecnociencia Chihuahua, 06/2021, Volume: 15, Issue: 1
    Journal Article

    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.