洗手消毒液 Hand Sanitizer

新冠肺炎大流行后，防疫其中最重要的一项物品就是手消毒液（Hand Sanitizer /Disinfectant）。

除了价钱腾涨之外，品类也多；品质参差，不符合规格的也多。最近我有去了一些商店购买物品，发觉他们的洗手消毒液品质各异。但因为很多人不知道里面的分别，看到消毒液瓶子就喷射一番，以为受到了保护。

到目前为止，最有效率，也受到世界卫生组织及其他国际疾病控制中心推荐的，就是以酒精为主的消毒液。消毒液中的酒精有两种，一种是乙醇（Ethanol)，另一种是異丙醇（Isopropyl Alcohol）。

我们不需太注重消毒液里面的其他配料，如香精（味），凝胶（gel），水分（ aqua, moisture）及护肤料。最重要的是注意酒精不可少过70%。

我注意到大部分商店，门口提供给顾客的都是没有注明原料的消毒液（政府没有规定必须如此，我相信他们也是购买大瓶的，然后依需要灌入小瓶，方便使用）。问题是: 大部分都是被稀调了，水份或凝胶成分过高，变得酒精成分拉低，就不会达到效果了。

我们不可能知道消毒液里面的成分，除非送去化验。我本身以前从事工业化学品生意，对酒精略有少许认识，所有才会知道其中的一些分别。

我大约可以从酒精味道可知其浓度。酒精越多，味越重；喷射后搓手略知其水分的成分。酒精必须加入水，减低其乾化速度，有时间渗透及消毒。水分过多，就需要长一点时间搓乾。的确，市面上有着如此这样的无良商家。

所有，我们除了使用商店提供的消毒液，本身也需自带备用，若对该提供的消毒液没有信心，可使用自己携带的消毒一次。当然最好的消毒方法是使用肥皂及水洗手，我们也应该常常这样做。

With the outbreak of Covid-19, one of the most important items in epidemic prevention is hand sanitizer (Disinfectant). Besides soaring prices, there are many brands and products in the market, with different packing and prices. 

Recently I went to some stores to shop for necessities, and found that their hand sanitizers are of different qualities and specifications . Many people don't know the differences of products quality, they sprayed onto their hands thinking that they are safe and protected.

So far, the most efficient and recommended by the World Health Organization and other international centers for disease control is the alcohol-based disinfectant. There are two kinds of alcohol in the disinfectant, one is Ethanol and the other is Isopropyl Alcohol.

We need not pay too much attention to other ingredients in the disinfectant, such as flavors, gels, Aqua, and skin care materials content. The most important thing is to note that alcohol content must not be less than 70%.

I noticed that many disinfectants provided by the stores at the entrance are with no label of content. (The government does not stipulate that it must be so. I believed they also bought them in large bottles, and then re-bottled into small ones as needed for easy use). The main issue here is that most of them are diluted products, thus the effect will not be achieved.

It is impossible for us to know the exact ingredients composition in the disinfectant unless to sent for lab testing. However,  I was in the industrial chemicals business before and had a little knowledge of alcohol.

I can roughly know from the smell of alcohol to know it's purity.  The higher content of alcohol, the heavier the smell. Secondly, rubbing your hands after spraying to know the moisture content. Water must be added to alcohol in order to reduce its rate of evaporation to allow penetration and disinfection. If there is too much water, the water on your hands will take longer time to dry. Indeed, there are so many unscrupulous merchants on the market providing diluted alcohol disinfectant.

Therefore, in addition to using disinfectant provided by the stores, we also need to bring our own disinfectant or sanitizer. If we are not confident about the disinfectant provided, we can use own ones one to disinfect more time. Of course, the best way of disinfection is to use soap and water to wash hands.