Consumers should be careful when purchasing ultraviolet (UV) sterilization lamps, after an inspection found that many such devices sold in Taiwan produce dangerous levels of radiation, officials said yesterday.
Inspected devices produced “dangerous levels of photochemical radiation” that could lead to skin cancer after prolonged exposure, the Executive Yuan’s Department of Consumer Protection told a news conference in Taipei.
UV lamps have gained popularity in the past few years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but there have been reports of them leading to keratitis, skin swelling and photophobia in young children when used in daycare centers, the department said.
Photo: Lo Chi
The reactions were observed in Taipei daycare centers after only two hours of use of the lamps, it added.
The department conducted the inspection on 10 lamps selected at random and found that six had no warnings on their packaging or documentation, it said.
“Safety warnings are an important mechanism for notifying the consumer of potential health and safety risks when purchasing products,” department official Wang Te-ming (王德明) said.
Of the products the department inspected that had warnings, three had warnings only on their packaging, but not on the product itself, he said, adding that this would mean consumers would have no way of knowing about risks once the packaging is discarded.
One of the products only had a QR code on its packaging, which would require consumers to scan to access the warnings, he said.
Some of the products were also labeled with misleading health information, such as “An appropriate level of UV light is harmless to the body,” and “Do not look in the direction of UV light for more than 10 seconds,” he said.
Wang said labels on consumer goods that do not meet standards could result in a fine of NT$20,000 to NT$200,000 (US$686 to US$6,862), while those with misleading labels could result in a fine of NT$60,000 to NT$1.5 million, in accordance with Article 58 of the Consumer Protection Act (消費者保護法).
People who are injured while using a company’s products could also seek damages under the Civil Code, he said.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs said the manufacturers of five of the inspected products have made labeling improvements, while one of the products has been removed from retailers’ inventories.
The ministry said it was also considering making a legislative amendment to require that UV lamps be equipped with motion sensors to shut off automatically when they detect movement.
Wang urged consumers to always check the packaging when purchasing UV lamps and to only use them when no people or pets are nearby.
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