Formulation of carbomer-based hand sanitizers and comparison with some commercially available brands

Purpose: To compare the pharmaceutical properties and antibacterial efficacy of different concentrations of carbomer-based hand sanitizers and some commercial brands available in Iraq. Methods: Ethanol-containing hand sanitizers were prepared using different concentrations of carbomer (0.5 to 1 %) as a base. Some commercial brands were purchased from pharmacies in Basrah. They were all evaluated for viscosity, spreadability and pH. Furthermore, the following bacteria were tested against each hand sanitizer: Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Staphylococcus aureus. Results: There was increase in viscosity as well as a corresponding decrease in pH and spreadability in the formulated hand sanitizers as carbomer concentration was increased from 0.5 to 1 %. All the commercial formulations demonstrated spreadability ranging from 0.4 to 0.62 cm. This was generally lower than the formulated gels (0.88 to 1.2 cm), while pH values of the commercial hand sanitizers were higher than those of the formulated samples. Sample C3 had the lowest pH value of 5.18 and hence was slightly acidic. Brand Z had no activity against all the organisms tested except P. aeruginosa, while Brand Y had no activity against Klebsiella pneumoniae. C3 was effective against all the organisms tested. However, it was not as effective as Brands H and M. Only one hand sanitizer had no effect (0 %) on all except Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Conclusion: The newly prepared hand sanitizer has the lowest viscosity, pH and highest spreadability when compared to commercial brands. It also demonstrated comparable antimicrobial activity that was greater than that of the controls used. This study has also shown that some commercial hand sanitizers are not effective against common strains of microorganisms, hence would require reevaluation.