With the demand for hand sanitizers rising in the wake of the coronavirus scare, two higher educational institutions in the city have made low-cost sanitiser claiming they met WHO guidelines.
A top state health department official said sanitisers should have over 60 per cent alcohol content and prepared by qualified chemists.
"We have been told about the hand sanitisers made by Surendranath College and Jadavpur University. We welcome such move and we wish to test their samples very soon to decide if their products can be used on a mass scale," the official said.
Jadavpur University Pro-Vice-Chancellor Chiranjib Bhattacharya told PTI that the pharmacy department has already developed a hand sanitiser with 70 per cent alcohol content, sourced from herbal fluids.
The sanitisers have been made by following World Health Organisation (WHO) specifications, Bhattacharya claimed.
"Already 200 bottles, weighing 100 ml each, have been produced and are being distributed free of cost among our staff, local rickshaw pullers, auto drivers and shop keepers, Bhattacharya, who is from the Chemical Engineering department, said.
Bhattacharya said the Faculty of Engineering & Technology Students' Union (FETSU) of JU also separately produced a low-cost hand sanitiser under the supervision of the faculty "meeting all WHO specifications."