A new study carried out by researchers from the University of Pretoria has found that commercial, off-the-shelf hand sanitisers used by the public in South Africa are often sub-standard and do not contain the recommended alcohol content.
Dr Yusuf Abdullahi Ahmed spearheaded the research, finding that sanitisers are being incorrectly labelled according to local and international standards.
Dr Ahmed recommends consumers use an alcohol-based hand sanitiser that contains at least 60 percent alcohol.
“I did a study where I collected samples of hand sanitisers from all over the place, trying to look at the alcohol content. The reason for this is the efficacy of any hand sanitiser for it to be verified depends on the amount of alcohol that it contains. The virus is coated in a lipid coating. So the only way to kill the virus is if you have something to kill that lipid layer,” says Dr Ahmed.
The video below is reporting on substandard hand sanitisers:
