HYGIENE


25


Hydroalcoholic hand sanitisers in the COVID era


Mauro Bleve – Laboratorios Maverick, Grupo Ubesol


Since March 2020, when COVID-19 was declared a pandemic and kicked off a global health emergency, our lifestyle and our behaviour have changed profoundly. Among many other things, there has been a drastic modification of our traditional concept of social life, accompanied by an urgent need for social distancing and attention to hygienic behaviour, in particular for the hands. The WHO has emphasised hand hygiene on


many occasions, reminding us that washing our hands for at least 20 seconds with water and soap could help reduce the spread of the virus. Otherwise, in the absence of water and soap, a valid alternative is the use of hydroalcoholic preparations, to be rubbed on for at least 60 seconds until completely dry. As a consequence of this ‘new normal’,


the use of hydroalcoholic hand sanitisers has turned into a necessary part of our personal care routine and our daily life. They and a face mask have become as much a part of our must- have kit when leaving home as house keys and a coat. At the beginning of the pandemic, due to


extremely high demand for this type of hand sanitiser, a shortage rapidly developed in the traditional distribution channels of pharmacies and healthcare stores. Therefore, on 13 March 2020, the European Commission introduced exemptions from Biocidal Products Regulation (BPR) for industrial establishments. This decision enabled many manufacturers


of cosmetics and perfumes to offer help in this heath emergency, according to their manufacturing capacities. Cosmetic manufacturers were asked to bring hydroalcoholic gels and solutions to the market rapidly, in particular to supply healthcare personnel, professionals and their employees, who were on the first line in this global health emergency. Like all others in the industry, Laboratorios


Maverick heard the call and promptly started to investigate the way to fast-track and deliver hand sanitising products to face this emergency. This article describes how we and others did it, starting with ingredients and formulation.


Active substances The main formulation formats investigated and delivered were sprayable solutions and hydroalcoholic gels. In some cases, a sprayable foaming solution was also considered an extra option for hydroalcoholic solutions, but this


www.personalcaremagazine.com


has been mainly applied to motion-sense dispensing devices mounted on walls. Table 1 shows the ingredients typically used in these formulations.


The starting point for the design of any


formulation was the WHO guidelines on Hand Hygiene in Health Care, firstly published in 2009.1


According to these guidelines, solutions


containing 60–80% alcohol are most effective. Higher concentrations are less potent because alcohol can denature proteins, although not so easily in the absence of water. Additionally, alcohol is usually sold as a


water solution with different concentrations (96% or 99%). Therefore, it is essential to design formulations with the correct amount of alcohol, in order to guarantee antimicrobial and antiviral efficacy. It is important to remember that the


percentage of alcohol is always expressed in volume (v/v). This means that an accurate conversion of the quantity of alcohol in weight (w/w) has to be made when designing


a formula in order not to formulate with an incorrect amount of alcohol, thus resulting in an inefficacious product. There have been many recalls of products


from the market because of inefficacy and due to the declaration on an alcohol amount higher than the one present in the formulation. This could potentially result in an inefficacious product when analysed for efficacy by the local authorities. In second half of 2020, many difficulties in the supply for of key raw materials for the production of hand sanitisers were experienced, mainly including ethyl alcohol and acrylic polymers as thickening agents. The shortage of ethanol obliged some national authorities to take action. In Spain, for example, the authorities allowed the use of non-cosmetic- grade alcohol for the duration of the health emergency only. Therefore, non-denatured food- and


pharma-grade pure alcohol was allowed for use in place of the cosmetic and perfumery-grade,


March 2022 PERSONAL CARE


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84