DEVELOPMENT OF AN IMPROVED ALCOHOL (ETHANOL)-BASED HAND SANITIZER (ABHS) FORMULATION THROUGH THE INCORPORATION OF YLANG-YLANG ESSENTIAL OIL

The COVID-19 pandemic has prompted international, national, and local governments to take action to reduce the disease’s impact on people. Several interventions were implemented to control and prevent the spread of COVID-19, including consistent personal hygiene and periodic disinfection. The use of hand sanitizer became popular and was discovered to be the most effective method of protection. The World Health Organization (WHO) has developed an alcohol-based hand sanitizer (ABHS) formulation that they have made available as guidelines for organizations interested in developing ABHSs. While suitable for antimicrobial topical use, the formulation’s distinct chemical odor hinders effective hand hygiene practices. This study aimed to address the issue by incorporating ylang-ylang essential oil into the formulation, following a descriptive developmental research design. The study was carried out by creating ABHS from an initial formulation and testing its consumer acceptability and skin tolerability with validated survey questionnaires adapted from WHO. The survey results were benchmarked against WHO's ABHS acceptability and tolerability criteria, leading to necessary adjustments in the ABHS formulation until excellent acceptability was achieved. After two rounds of optimization, empirical data indicate that the ABHS formulation, which contained 70% ethyl alcohol (v/v) and 0.10% ylang-ylang essential oil (v/v), met WHO standards for acceptability and skin tolerability. This study developed a hand sanitizer with high consumer acceptability and skin tolerance scores. The research-validated ABHS formulation may be commercialized, potentially boosting the local and national ylang-ylang economy.