As Coronavirus continues to record more negative impact on the socioeconomic life of the people, dubious business persons now hide under the situation to exploit unsuspecting members of the public.
Investigations showed that as the rush for hand sanitisers has increased in a bid to prevent the spread of COVID-19, while fake and adulterated hand sanitisers have flooded the market.
One of the recommended preventive measures against the highly infectious coronavirus is the use of hand sanitisers. Health officials have recommended that hand sanitisers with minimum of 60% alcohol is effective in killing the virus.
With this development, it was gathered that while the smallest bottle of original hand sanitiser with 60% alcohol costs N1,500, there are a lot of fake sanitisers in the market with prices as low as N600.
It was gathered that some unscrupulous people now produce substandard hand sanitisers while some sellers of the product also adulterate the product. It was also discovered that many people now use local gin as hand sanitizer, claiming that they could not afford original hand sanitisers.
A hand sanitiser seller, Mrs Kemi Aranilewa, disclosed that fake hand sanitisers are made with a mixture of hydrogen peroxide, methilated spirit and glycerine.
Describing her experience, Mrs Oladipupo, who attested that there are fake sanitisers in the market, said the original sanitisers are usually very cold when applied to the palms, but the fake ones are like glycerine.
Mr Kunle Ajibogun said: “There are fake sanitisers in town because of the huge demand for it and the urge to make quick money”.
He said that some people mix ethanol and liquid soap together to make hand sanitiser and sell to the people.
This was corroborated by Mrs Abiola Adewale, who said that there are lots of fake sanitisers in the market; people are afraid of coronavirus and they buy any sanitiser out of panic.
Narrating her experience, a teacher, Mrs Esther Kolawole said she was shocked when she got home and decided to use the sanitiser she bought from the market only to find out it was kerosene and local gin cleverly packaged in a container.
Justifying the mixture, a housewife, Mrs Bosede Emmanuel said since the genuine product’s prices are too high, the only way to get one is by trying the ‘do it’ yourself method.
She said since alcohol is said to be active against the virus, then there is nothing bad in combining it with something like hypo or dettol which are well known disinfectants.
The trio of John Hope, Biodun Ale and Sunday Adewole said that they also use Regal gin as hand sanitiser because of high level of alcohol.
Ale said that he preferred using Regal gin because there are many fake hand sanitisers in the market and he heard that alcohol kills the virus.
Reacting to this development, The Associate Director for Research at Global Health Focus, UK, Mr Adebisi Yusuf Adebayo said that “The main ingredient found in hand sanitiser is ethyl alcohol (ethanol) at a concentration of 60% to 95%. Other ingredients found in hand-sanitisers are Water, Glycerin, Isopropyl Myristate, Propylene Glycol, Tocopheryl Acetate, Aminomethyl Propanol, Carbomer, Fragrance and hydrogen peroxide among others”.
Adebayo, who has a background in Pharmacy, stated that the use of gin is not advisable because its alcoholic content is not up to 60%, stating that the best preventive measure against germs and the coronavirus is “hand washing with soap under running water for 20 seconds.”
The Hope
