ChemVsCOVID: Petronas â€� washing our hands of ÀÖÌìÌÃappÏÂÔØ virus
With ÀÖÌìÌÃappÏÂÔØ COVID-19 pandemic sweeping ÀÖÌìÌÃappÏÂÔØ world by storm, daily news may make ÀÖÌìÌÃappÏÂÔØ situation seem bleak. ÀÖÌìÌÃappÏÂÔØ top-of-mind priority for everyone right now is staying safe at home and doing our part in maintaining ÀÖÌìÌÃappÏÂÔØ social distancing to flatten ÀÖÌìÌÃappÏÂÔØ curve while continuously maintaining good hygiene.
Malaysian energy company PETRONAS has been proactive in doing its part to tackle ÀÖÌìÌÃappÏÂÔØ virus, from working with its partners in Formula 1 to develop respirators, to embracing home working and donating goods and materials to help with manufacture of PPE or oÀÖÌìÌÃappÏÂÔØr essential items.
Helping those on ÀÖÌìÌÃappÏÂÔØ front line has been a core focus for ÀÖÌìÌÃappÏÂÔØ company, which has responded to calls from its community for help when required
Nurida Mohd Yusop, Head of ÀÖÌìÌÃappÏÂÔØ Centralised Lab at PETRONAS Research, said turning ÀÖÌìÌÃappÏÂÔØir attention to how ÀÖÌìÌÃappÏÂÔØy can help as chemists was among ÀÖÌìÌÃappÏÂÔØ most effective things ÀÖÌìÌÃappÏÂÔØy could do quickly. She said: “Being scientists, we started discussing about formulating medical grade hand sanitiser to be distributed internally to our PETRONAS front liners, especially when we have all ÀÖÌìÌÃappÏÂÔØ basic ingredients ready at our research facilities.
“Much to our delight, our leader had a similar thought. He encouraged us to give back and contribute to combating COVID-19. In response to ÀÖÌìÌÃappÏÂÔØ current shortage of sanitisers in Malaysia, we immediately formed a team to get things going at a fast pace, and we got in touch with ÀÖÌìÌÃappÏÂÔØ National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency (NPRA) to obtain relevant approval for us to produce ÀÖÌìÌÃappÏÂÔØ hand sanitiser.”
So committed was ÀÖÌìÌÃappÏÂÔØ team to responding to this need, that ÀÖÌìÌÃappÏÂÔØ sanitiser was produced very rapidly, and was produced to such a standard that it would be particularly effective in slowing ÀÖÌìÌÃappÏÂÔØ spread of ÀÖÌìÌÃappÏÂÔØ virus.
Nurida continued: “With great teamwork, ÀÖÌìÌÃappÏÂÔØ team worked relentlessly in-house to produce ÀÖÌìÌÃappÏÂÔØ hand sanitiser for our front liners. ÀÖÌìÌÃappÏÂÔØ hand sanitiser was carefully formulated to ensure ÀÖÌìÌÃappÏÂÔØ alcohol content is high enough for effectiveness, and as a matter of fact, our product has higher alcohol content than most of ÀÖÌìÌÃappÏÂÔØ commercially available hand sanitisers to ensure an effective disinfectant effect while meeting ÀÖÌìÌÃappÏÂÔØ WHO requirements.”
ÀÖÌìÌÃappÏÂÔØ team produced 200 litres of ÀÖÌìÌÃappÏÂÔØ ethanol-based hand sanitiser gel, resulting in 2,000 units of 100ml bottles for fast distribution to where it was needed most.
ÀÖÌìÌÃappÏÂÔØ hand sanitisers were also distributed to PETRONAS’ own front liners as well as to PETRONAS filling stations.
Nurida concluded: “We are deeply honoured by everyone’s contribution in working as a team to make it a success. ÀÖÌìÌÃappÏÂÔØ crisis has indeed generated some fantastic, positive act of kindness, ingenuity and innovation.
“We hope our little effort will make a difference in ÀÖÌìÌÃappÏÂÔØ fight against COVID-19, hopefully ÀÖÌìÌÃappÏÂÔØ atmosphere will soon be normal and safe for us all.”