Employees put caps on bottles of ethanol-based hand sanitizers in a factory in Brazil, March 25, 2020. [Reuters]Soaring global demand for hand sanitiser to combat the new coronavirus could increase the use of forced and child labour in sugarcane plantations, UK-based researchers said on Thursday. Sugarcane is used to make ethanol for alcohol-based gels and seven of the world's largest sugarcane producers - including Brazil, Mexico and Thailand - have a high to extreme risk of child and forced labour, said analytics firm Verisk Maplecroft. She said it was hard to know how much sugarcane ends up as hand sanitiser as it is used in many products, from sugar to biofuels. The charity World Vision is currently working to ensure school enrollment for migrant children, discouraging drop outs and improving teacher training.

Source: Standard Digital September 19, 2020 12:00 UTC