The Consumers’ Foundation on Monday called on the government to set standards for alcohol wipes sold in the nation, as only five of the 17 brands of wipes it tested met the recommended alcohol concentration needed to wipe out bacteria.
Products such as alcohol wipes have seen a surge in popularity amid the COVID-19 pandemic, but consumers have expressed their doubts to the foundation that the wipes actually kill bacteria, foundation secretary-general Hsu Tse-yu (徐則鈺) said.
To investigate the issue, the foundation randomly purchased 17 brands of wipes that contain ethanol sold at supermarkets, pharmacies and e-commerce sites in October last year and tested their alcohol levels, Hsu said.
Photo: CNA
Only five of the products met the 70 to 78 percent alcohol concentration needed to kill 99 percent of bacteria, Hsu said.
Three of the products had alcohol concentration levels of 60 to 69 percent, while the remaining nine had less than 50 percent concentrations, Hsu said.
However, the manufacturers cannot be fined because the government has not set a standard for alcohol concentration in wipes.
There is no definition of the term “anti-bacterial,” either, so products can be marketed as such even if they cannot kill bacteria effectively, Hsu said.
Besides alcohol levels, the foundation also tested the products for preservatives using the standard set for cosmetics, as there are no regulations for alcohol wipes.
Five alcohol wipes had phenoxyethanol levels higher than 1 percent, the standard set for cosmetic products, while one contained more than 0.1 percent of benzethonium chloride, Hsu said.
The foundation called on the government to set standards for alcohol wipes and a definition for the term “antibacterial,” so that manufacturers and consumers would have clear rules to follow, Hsu said.
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