Over six months ago, Kukil Burah, a resident of Biswanath district in Assam didn’t even know about hand sanitizers and their various brands. But since the spread of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), he doesn’t leave the house without a hand sanitizer in his pocket, which is a new normal.
“A few months back, we didn’t even know about hand sanitizer and never used it. We got to know about it in the COVID-19 pandemic as one of the means of disinfecting our hands. Now I carry a hand sanitizer with me wherever I go,” he told Gaon Connection. Armed with a hand sanitizer, he feels slightly safe.
Like Burah, hundreds of thousands people in the country have started using hands sanitizers regularly and liberally in an effort to keep the coronavirus at bay. To curb the spread of COVID-19, regular handwashing with plain soap and water for at least 20 seconds is advised. In the absence of soap and water, using hand sanitizers containing at least 60 per cent alcohol is advisable.
Predictably, amid the pandemic, hand sanitizers market has grown by leaps and bounds in India. Since the COVID-19 outbreak, this market has swelled from Rs 10 crore last year to Rs 43 crore this March. The revenue in the hand sanitizer segment is expected to rise from US$ 611.81 million in 2020 to US$ 840.73 million in 2025.The market is expected to grow annually by 6.6 per cent (CAGR 2020-2025).
But while the various brands of hand sanitizers make a killing in the pandemic, how many of these are effective in killing the virus?
A recent study by Mumbai-based Consumer Guidance Society of India, a non-profit that checks the quality of products supplied to consumers, revealed of the total 122 hand sanitizer tested, 37 per cent were of poor quality and adulterated. Also, four per cent contained toxic chemical methanol, which can cause blindness and even death.
The study was conducted on different brands of hand sanitizers available in the markets of Mumbai, Navi Mumbai and Thane in Maharashtra. The consumer organisation carried out “gas chromatography” testing of 122 hand sanitizer samples in a nationally accredited laboratory last month in August.
Most retail stores and pharmacies sell hand sanitizer, which are over-the-counter drugs regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). All formulations should comply with the FDA’s over-the-counter drug review conditions and manufactured under the conditions in its policy.
The testing of 122 sanitizers found 45 (about 37 per cent) hand sanitizers did not meet the manufacturing company’s claims. They were of poor quality and adulterated including those sold under the brand names of Patanjali, Krivi Herbals Pvt. Ltd, Avon Laboratories, SSS Pharma, and Gentle Care.
These findings have come as a shock to Burah. “We never check contents of the hand sanitizer before buying them. These products cost about thirty-five to seventy rupees per bottle, and we just buy and use them,” he said.
This is not all. The consumer organisation also found toxic methanol in four per cent hand sanitizer samples. Of the 122 hand sanitizers tested, five contained toxic methanol. These included ‘Instant Hand Sanitiser’ from Krivi Herbals Pvt, Medicare from Avon Laboratories, Misty Gold Equinox Industries, Sanitan from Aan Pharma Pvt. Ltd, and Clean Hands from Avadh Engineering Pvt Ld. All these sanitizers are very cheap costing only Rs 25 to Rs 50.
Methanol, also known as carbinol, wood alcohol or wood spirits, is easily available at almost half the price of government-controlled ethanol.
Methanol is a toxic chemical and can cause blindness by destruction of the optic nerve. It enters the body by ingestion, inhalation, or absorption through the skin. Continued exposure may cause eye lesions. Once absorbed into the body, it eliminates very slowly. Symptoms of overexposure may include headache, drowsiness, nausea, vomiting, blurred vision, blindness, coma, and death.
In its press release, Consumer Guidance Society of India said toxic methanol on the label does not qualify as an ingredient of hand sanitizers as it is a banned chemical. Sale of natural ethanol is strictly regulated and so impossible to obtain without alcohol permit. Denatured synthetic alcohols, although available without a permit or regulatory compliance, are, however, very expensive.
To get over these problems, some manufacturers avoid using ethyl alcohol or ethanol and instead use toxic methyl alcohol or methanol as a replacement. Unscrupulous manufacturers could use branded container packing for marketers to sell spurious methanol-based sanitizers. Regular use of adulterated or toxic sanitizers may further the risk of diseases in the COVID-19 pandemic.
