The battle against COVID-19 is on and the Chemistry Departments of nearly all the colleges in the district are joining in by making hand sanitisers. Many of them distributed the sanitisers free to the general public and also government departments. This is the second time that they are coming to the aid of their fellow Kochiites after floods.
According to Elizabeth K, assistant professor, Chemistry Department, St Teresa's College, the idea was mooted by the director. "We prepared the sanitiser by following the WHO prescribed procedure and standards. The effectiveness of the sanitiser was also tested. The testing was done by the Zoology Department of the college," she said.
"The sanitiser is made using ethanol and iso-propyl alcohol with aloevera extract added as moisturiser. It was prepared by the researchers from the Centre for Research and the Chemistry Department," she said. According to her, the sanitisers are being given free. "As of now we have distributed around 5 litres of sanitiser to the Central Police Station, Ernakulam. We are also using the same in the campus," she said. The lecturer said, "If more requests are received they will be preparing as per demand."
The Chemistry Department of St Paul's College, Kalamassery, also pitched in for the Break The Chain campaign. "The students and teachers of the Chemistry Department prepared the sanitisers. The first batch of the 500 bottles (100 ml) of sanitisers were distributed among the autorickshaw drivers, pedestrians and traders at HMT Junction," said Jibin Jacob, assistant professor, St Paul's College, Kalamassery.
According to him, the bottles were distributed with the help of NCC cadets of the college. "Since, it is the examination time, the sanitisers have been made available to all the students, teachers and staff of the college. The department will be making more sanitisers in the coming days," he said. The money for the materials required for the sanitisers was pooled in by the teachers and the management of the college.
The chemistry department of Bharat Mata College, Thrikkakara, has been been making hand sanitisers since last week. “The sanitisers are made using basic ingredients such as isopropyl alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, glycerol and water as per WHO directive,"said Jinsa Mary Jacob, chemistry professor.
“Since the degree examinations for MG University is underway, parents and students had expressed their apprehensions about traveling to college using public transport. Hence, the department made two litres and made it available to students and faculty. We have now made 100 bottles of 200ml of hand sanitiser for internal circulation to students and faculty. These are to be sold at reduced rates,"she added.
Cusat too has launched its break chain programme for resisting Covid-19 by introducing sanitizer prepared in the laboratory of its own Department of Applied Chemistry. Vice Chancellor K N Madhusoodanan said, "The sanitiser will be made available to the nearby schools where board exams are going on." The facility arranged at the Department of Youth Welfare of the University. K Girish Kumar, head, Applied Chemistry Department said an expense of approximately Rs 75 per 100 ml bottle is being incurred for the sanitiser.
