Thursday, 05 August 2021 | PNS | Dehradun
Spurious and toxic hand sanitisers might be the possible cause of the spread of Covid-19 and deaths caused by it across the State. The demand for sanitisers has risen since Covid hit Uttarakhand and due to its growing demand, many spurious hand sanitisers infused with toxic chemicals are being sold across the State. This was revealed by the team of Society of Pollution and Environmental Conservation Scientists (SPECS) in their recent study of hand sanitisers as part of their sanitiser testing campaign conducted from May 3 to July 5 this year. The study revealed that 578 samples out of 1,050 samples of hand sanitisers collected from markets and households of the districts of Uttarakhand had extremely low amounts of alcohol that makes them ineffective against Covid-19. The presence of toxic colours was also found in 278 samples of sanitisers while the highly toxic chemical methanol was also found in eight samples- which can severely affect the human body. The concentration of hydrogen peroxide was also found in excess in around 112 samples of sanitisers. Over 50 per cent samples of sanitisers collected from districts Almora, Champawat, Haridwar, Pauri, Tehri, Rudraprayag, Uttarkashi, Nainital Udham Singh Nagar and Chamoli did not have alcohol as per the norms as a hand sanitiser must contain at least 60 per cent alcohol to act effectively. Also, over 48 per cent samples of sanitisers collected from Dehradun, Pithoragarh and Bageshwar districts had alcohol less than 60 per cent.
According to the secretary of SPECS, Brij Mohan Sharma, the government has been promoting the frequent use of sanitisers to keep the hands sanitised during Covid-19 pandemic but nothing prominent is being done to check the effectiveness of the sanitisers available in the market. “We found in our study that sanitisers with as low as five per cent of alcohol are being sold across the State as genuine products. Many include toxic chemicals like methanol and excessive hydrogen peroxide that can cause respiratory issues among other health problems,” stated Sharma.
He said that isopropyl alcohol or ethanol must be used in sanitisers with food grade colours as per the norms. He also opined it is possible that the frequent use of fake sanitisers and sanitisers with toxic chemicals might be the cause of the Covid outbreak and Covid deaths as they fail to accomplish their purpose. Besides this, Sharma recommended people wash their hands frequently rather than using sanitisers. “One should wash hands even after using sanitisers because one might ingest chemicals if they eat something after sanitising their hands. People can boil Reetha in water with a few drops of coconut oil and use it to sanitise their hands,” asserted Sharma.
Meanwhile, he also added that SPECS will soon send the copies of this research to the chief minister and district magistrates of Uttarakhand.
