Determination of Ethanol and Isopropanol Content in Hand Sanitizers Using Nitrogen Carrier Gas

The current coronavirus pandemic has created an unprecedented demand for alcohol-based hand sanitizers. The US FDA has provided guidance to allow manufacturing of hand sanitizers using ethanol or isopropanol (IPA) as their active ingredient. The United States Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the World Health Organization (WHO), and the US Pharmacopeia (USP) all have determined that ethanol or IPA concentrations in hand sanitizers must be between 60 and 95% to ensure germicidal and viricidal properties. We developed a GC FID method to accurately quantify ethanol and IPA concentrations in two hand sanitizer samples. By using nitrogen as the carrier gas, this method is cost-effective and ensures the product compliance with CDC and USP guidelines and regulations.