Upgrading Locally Available Sanitizer Ingredients for Health Services in Canada

In response to COVID-19 in Canada, demand for sanitizer products has increased dramatically. Health Canada has relaxed guidelines for sanitizers meant for consumers and maintained the regulation for medical grade ethanol in healthcare settings. In response to the increased demand and relaxed guidelines, organizations in the ethanol supply chain have been producing sanitizer products. The supply chains for sanitizer ingredients has been thoroughly disrupted. There is a need for medical-grade ethanol, and the reduction of impurities in consumer sanitizers will also benefit the public. This project is aimed at procuring sanitizer ingredients from alternative sources, analyzing and addressing the impurities to comply with the USP monographs for those materials (ethanol, ethyl acetate, acetic acid, hydrogen peroxide). Sanitizing products will be produced using these ingredients and distributed to health service providers. The process adaptations that are developed to address impurities will be generated with Good Manufacturing Practices, and appropriate quality control will be developed and practiced as part of production. The project will be directed towards creating a model which can be used to implement this procedure at other fuel grade ethanol plants and manufacturers in order to provide ongoing and future emergency preparedness on a national and global level.

Faculty Supervisor:

Chris Zhang;Martin Reaney;Sarah Purdy

Student:

Karnjit Parma;Farley Chicilo

Partner:

Prairie Tide Chemicals

Discipline:

Sector:

Agriculture

University:

University of Saskatchewan

Program: