Innovative Spectroscopic Approaches for On-Site Quality Control of Hand Sanitizers
نویسندگان
1 Department of Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Science, Vietnam National University, Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam
2 Department of Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Science, Vietnam National University, Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam
3 Department of Applied Physics, University of Science, Vietnam National University, Ho Chi Minh City, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
4 Department of Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Science, Vietnam National University, Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam.
doi
10.22036/abcr.2025.504259.2295چکیده
Ensuring the ethanol (EtOH) content in hand gel sanitizers meets regulatory standards is critical for effective viral inactivation, particularly in preventing the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) variants. This study aimed to develop a rapid quality control method to verify a minimum EtOH concentration of 52% (w/w) in hand sanitizers available in Vietnam. Near-infrared (NIR) and Raman spectroscopy, combined with chemometric modeling, were employed to enable fast and accurate EtOH quantification. More than 200 real-sample matrix standards with validated EtOH concentrations were used to construct partial least squares (PLS) models, achieving root mean square errors of prediction (RMSEP) of 4.46% and 0.76% (w/w) for NIR and Raman methods, respectively. A self-built headspace gas chromatography (HS-GC) system was developed for comparison, yielding a linear EtOH calibration range of 0.25%–2.5% (w/w) (R² > 0.998), a relative standard deviation <3%, and recoveries from 104.1% to 108.3%. Eleven commercial hand sanitizer samples were analyzed, with one failing to meet the required EtOH content. The relative errors between the NIR and Raman spectroscopy methods compared to HS-GC were 2.0% and 0.9%, respectively, demonstrating strong agreement. These results suggest that spectroscopy-based approaches offer a reliable, rapid, and cost-effective alternative for routine quality control of ethanol concentration in hand sanitizers, ensuring compliance with public health regulations.