Professors, students and lab techs at the Autonomous University of Yucatán (UADY) collaborated to make and bottle 25 tonnes of hand sanitizer to support the state government’s efforts to mitigate the spread of Covid-19.

UADY rector José de Jesús Williams made the university community available to provide support to authorities and society at large since the health crisis began, the university said.

The director of the UADY School of Chemistry, María Dalmira Rodríguez Marín, said the lab follows a strict protocol to ensure that the hand gel does not become contaminated during bottling, including temperature controls, proper handling techniques and adequate personal protection equipment (PPE).

The university equipped a laboratory specifically for the purpose, designing a custom production line by which they’ve been able to store nine tonnes of hand gel in addition to the 25 tonnes they bottled.

UADY also manufactured over three tonnes of gel exclusively for university students, faculty and other essential personnel who continue to work on campus.

The hand sanitizer is made of 98% pure alcohol mixed with gel at a concentration of 70%, the rest being composed of distilled water, glycerin and the viscous organic compound triethanolamine.

A shortage of hand sanitizer has caused supermarkets to limit the units a customer can buy at a time, in addition to other products considered essential during the crisis.

It also caused the demand in the informal economy to surge, allowing street vendors to make a healthy profit on bootleg antibacterial gel.

Source: La Jornada (sp)