O 70% alcohol is used for cleaning in various places., mainly from commercial establishments that serve food. One of those places is the school canteens, which provide food for a very large amount of children and teenagers.
Children under the age of five are more vulnerable to contracting illnesses through food. Furthermore, many young people have problems in immune system which also make them prone to this kind of contamination. These risks are serious and can even lead to death.
Read too: Tips to avoid poisoning and poisoning
How should canteen cleaning be done?
Therefore, the “Manual of Healthy School Canteens: promoting healthy eating” from the Ministry of Health brings in a very detailed way which are the hygiene and cleanliness criteria that a school canteen needs to adopt. Among them, we have the constant cleaning of facilities (walls, ceilings, drains, floors, lamps, doors, windows etc.), equipment and utensils used.
Cleaning must be made with soap and water, but sanitation also needs to have a process of
disinfection to kill the bacteria that are not removed with just soap and water. This disinfection can be done with bleach diluted in water (10 mL to 1 liter of water) and with 70% alcohol. This alcohol is also used in the cafeteria by employees after washing their hands, especially when going to the bathroom.See too: Soap water or alcohol gel: which is the most effective?
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How to get 70% alcohol?
It's very simple, just follow the instructions below:
1. Put 3 liters of 92.8% alcohol in a very clean and dry container;
2. Add 1 liter of filtered or boiled water;
3. Mix well and go!
It is important to know that this product has validity of only 24 hours, so make only the amount you are going to use for the day. The ratio between water and alcohol 92.8% is 1:3, so you can use other measures according to your needs. For example, it could be three glasses of 92.8% alcohol to one glass of water and so on.
To see other measures for cleaning and sanitizing the canteen, read the article “Food hygiene in school canteens”.
By Jennifer Fogaça
Graduated in Chemistry
Would you like to reference this text in a school or academic work? Look:
FOGAÇA, Jennifer Rocha Vargas. "How to make 70% alcohol to clean school canteens?"; Brazil School. Available in: https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/saude-na-escola/como-fazer-alcool-70-para-limpar-as-cantinas-escolares.htm. Accessed on June 27, 2021.
