Güntner Andreas T, Magro Leandro, van den Broek Jan, Pratsinis Sotiris E
Particle Technology Laboratory, Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering, ETH Zurich, CH-8092 Zurich, Switzerland.
iScience. 2021 Jan 12;24(2):102050. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2021.102050. eCollection 2021 Feb 19.
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has increased dramatically the demand for hand sanitizers. A major concern is methanol adulteration that caused more than 700 fatalities in Iran and U.S.A. (since February 2020). In response, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has restricted the methanol content in sanitizers to 0.063 vol% and blacklisted 212 products (as of November 20, 2020). Here, we present a low-cost, handheld, and smartphone-assisted device that detects methanol selectively in sanitizers between 0.01 and 100 vol% within two minutes. It features a nanoporous polymer column that separates methanol selectively from confounders by adsorption. A chemoresistive gas sensor detects the methanol. When tested on commercial sanitizers (total 76 samples), methanol was quantified in excellent (R = 0.99) agreement to "gold standard" gas chromatography. Importantly, methanol quantification was hardly interfered by sanitizer composition and viscosity. This device meets an urgent need for on-site methanol screening by authorities, health professionals, and even laymen.
2019年冠状病毒病（COVID-19）大流行极大地增加了对手部消毒剂的需求。一个主要担忧是甲醇掺假问题，自2020年2月以来，这一问题已在伊朗和美国导致700多人死亡。作为回应，美国食品药品监督管理局已将消毒剂中的甲醇含量限制在0.063体积%，并将212种产品列入黑名单（截至2020年11月20日）。在此，我们展示了一种低成本、手持式且由智能手机辅助的设备，该设备可在两分钟内选择性检测消毒剂中体积分数在0.01%至100%之间的甲醇。它具有一个纳米多孔聚合物柱，通过吸附作用从干扰物中选择性分离出甲醇。一个化学电阻式气体传感器检测甲醇。在对76个商业消毒剂样本进行测试时，甲醇定量结果与“金标准”气相色谱法具有极佳的一致性（R = 0.99）。重要的是，消毒剂的成分和粘度对甲醇定量几乎没有干扰。该设备满足了当局、卫生专业人员甚至普通民众对现场甲醇筛查的迫切需求。
