{"id":3743,"date":"2021-03-18T09:37:51","date_gmt":"2021-03-18T09:37:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cyprusoenophileassociation.com\/2021\/03\/alcohol-as-a-disinfectant\/"},"modified":"2023-05-09T06:56:03","modified_gmt":"2023-05-09T06:56:03","slug":"alcohol-as-a-disinfectant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cyprusoenophileassociation.com\/en\/2021\/03\/alcohol-as-a-disinfectant\/","title":{"rendered":"ALCOHOL AS A DISINFECTANT"},"content":{"rendered":"

Staying at home during the Covid-19 pandemic and being overwhelmed by fear, we constantly look for new disinfectants to prevent coronavirus infection.<\/p>\n

Thorough hand washing and disinfection of our hands and other utensils daily is essential.  Many people ask if alcohol has these advantages. They also ask why alcohol is so expensive.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s start with the second question: why is alcohol so expensive<\/strong>? Alcohol is produced by distilling wine or other products (potatoes, cereals, sugar beet, sugar cane, etc.) It involves a complex production process that takes multiple quantities of raw material to produce one unit of alcohol.  For instance, to produce one litre of 96.3 -96.7% anhydrous alcohol, we need 7.438 litres of wine with an alcoholic strength of 13%.<\/p>\n

In addition to these production costs (raw materials, plant, labour, capital depreciation, etc.), excise duty must also be paid.  This tax amounts to \u20ac9,57\/litre + VAT = \u20ac 11,39.  In conclusion, for every litre of anhydrous ethyl alcohol (~96.5%) that we buy, we also pay an excise tax equal to 11.39 cents.  This is for edible alcohol as no excise duty is paid for \u201cdenatured\u201d alcohol (alcohol to which other ingredients are added to make it inedible).<\/p>\n

How effective is alcohol in fighting pathogens?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Alcohol is the main ingredient in hand sanitisers because it effectively neutralises many pathogens, including viruses and bacteria.<\/p>\n

According to various market research, hand sanitisers with \u201calcohol\u201d contain one of the following alcohols: ethyl alcohol (or edible alcohol) and isopropyl alcohol or isopropanol, which is toxic if consumed!<\/p>\n

Alcohol-based disinfectants may or may not have the ability to neutralise some viruses and bacteria depending on their structure (content). A good example is the bacterium E. coli, which can cause food poisoning, and is effectively destroyed by disinfectants containing alcohol at a concentration of at least 60%.<\/p>\n

Also, alcohol effectively kills enveloped viruses. The envelope is an outer covering of lipids and proteins in which the virus\u2019s genetic material resides.<\/p>\n

According to recent research, the Covid-19 coronavirus belongs to this category and can be effectively neutralised by alcohol-based hand sanitisers containing alcohol concentrations of at least 60%.<\/p>\n

One might think that the higher the alcohol content of a disinfectant, the more effective it is. Surprisingly, this is not the case for several reasons:<\/p>\n