Development of a 'drop-count' method for the screening of the ethanol content in hand sanitisers using oxalic acid and potassium permanganate titrimetry
Introduction The demand for ethanol-based sanitisers has increased dramatically since the dawn of the COVID-19 era, making it very difficult for health regulators to ensure the quality of the products and the safety of unsuspecting consumers. This article reports the development and application of a...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Book |
| Published: |
Orapuh, Inc.,
2022-07-01T00:00:00Z.
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | Connect to this object online. |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| Summary: | Introduction The demand for ethanol-based sanitisers has increased dramatically since the dawn of the COVID-19 era, making it very difficult for health regulators to ensure the quality of the products and the safety of unsuspecting consumers. This article reports the development and application of a simple 'drop-count' titrimetry method for the determination of ethanol in hand sanitisers. Materials and Methods This method follows the classical potassium permanganate-oxalic acid titrimetry but uses very small volumes of the reagents - 0.5 mL of ethanol sample solution, 6 mL of acidified 0.1 M potassium permanganate, and a few counted drops of 0.1M oxalic acid. Results This method achieved satisfactory figures of merit, namely, linearity (R2 ≥ 0.9667), reproducibility, and importantly very little matrix effect in the alcohol concentration range of 50 to 80%. Conclusion The small volumes (< 10 mL in total) of the reagents required make this method considerably safe and cost-effective and applicable for fieldwork even by untrained personnel, not just chemists as is often the case for field applications. |
|---|---|
| Item Description: | 10.4314/orapj.v3i1.1 2644-3740 |