Covid-19 Pandemic: Need to Exercise Caution While Using Hypochlorite Sanitizer in Manufacturing Industries
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LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Covid-19 Pandemic: Need to Exercise Caution While Using Hypochlorite Sanitizer in Manufacturing Industries S. K. Bhaumik
Submitted: 2 November 2020 / Accepted: 5 November 2020 Ó ASM International 2020
Abstract World is fighting Covid-19 pandemic since beginning of the year 2020. To prevent spread of Covid-19 disease, sanitization of workplaces using sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) disinfectant is one of the several precautionary steps that are followed currently. In this letter, I share an experience wherein regular spraying of NaOCl solution in metal forming section of an organization led to development of corrosion damage and rejection of a large number of aircraft structural components made of Al2024 alloy sheet material. Keywords
Covid-19 Sanitization NaOCl solution
Introduction World Health Organization (WHO) announced the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) as public health emergency of international concern in January 2020 and subsequently declared it as pandemic in March 2020. It has been the deadliest pandemic that the mankind has seen since the Spanish flue a century ago in 1918. As per WHO, ‘‘Covid-19 disease spreads primarily from person to person through small droplets from the nose or mouth, when a person with COVID-19 coughs, sneezes, or speaks’’ [1]. These droplets remain suspended in air for some time and finally land on the surfaces/objects. People in the vicinity who inhale these droplets or touch the surfaces and then touch their nose, eyes, or mouth can get infected with the
S. K. Bhaumik (&) Materials Science Division, National Aerospace Laboratories, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Bangalore 560017, India e-mail: [email protected]
virus. The pandemic is ongoing, and as of October 27, 2020, more than 43 million people got infected globally with a death toll of over 1.1 million. Soon after the declaration of Covid-19 pandemic, WHO came up with various guidelines as preventive measures and to contain community transmission of virus. The recommendations included frequent washing of hands with soap solution, wearing face mask, maintaining physical distancing, etc. As in all pandemics, the immediate effect of outbreak of the disease was uncontrollable, and hence, countries after countries announced travel restrictions and imposed complete lockdowns ranging from a couple of weeks to several weeks. The lockdowns had very serious and adverse impact on economy and livelihood, and hence, they were lifted in most of the countries in a phased manner with specific guidelines such as reduced workforce strength, staggered working time, and protocol for dealing with Covid-19 patients to be followed in workplaces. Majority of these guidelines issued by the Governments were for avoidance of gathering and maintenance of physical distancing while the basic preventive measures for individuals recommended by WHO remained unaltered over the last 10 months. One of the mandatory guidelines for industries/establishments/institutions was periodic sanitization
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