With the new pneumonia epidemic, masks have become a daily necessity, and “pretty colors” masks have become very popular. In Hong Kong and Taiwan, many people wear brightly colored masks to match the look of their clothes. However, some experts have recently pointed out that colored masks may contain carcinogenic azo dyes, and for a while, the safety of colored masks has been a major concern.
Taiwan Food and Drug Administration today (3) said that in the past there was no color for the inspection, but worried about the health of the public, will be included in the check factory project, if the manufacturer violated the use of azo dyes, the maximum penalty of 2 million yuan (New Taiwan dollars, the same below).
According to Taiwan media reports, the local medical or dust color masks, the use of color materials are not uniform standards, past tests have found color dust masks containing carcinogenic azo dyes.
Yan Zonghai, director of clinical toxicology at New Taipei City’s Lin Kou Chang Gung Hospital, said that azo dyes come into contact with the skin and can easily cause some allergic and inflammatory reactions, while animal experiments have confirmed that some compounds in azo dyes can increase the risk of cancer. Although the dye on the mask is usually only in the outermost layer, but if the long-term touch and then touch the mouth and nose, there is a risk of accidental ingestion.
In this regard, Taiwan Central Epidemic Command Center spokesman Zhuang Renxiang responded on the 3rd, currently non-medical masks are labeling, quality and flow checks performed by the Ministry of Economic Affairs Bureau of Standards and Inspection, the Bureau of Standards and Inspection will go to do related sampling, the scope includes physical stores, online platforms, etc., if the detection of harmful substances of azo coloring, according to the Consumer Protection Act, the maximum fine of 1.5 million New Taiwan dollars.
Taiwan Food and Drug Administration also said that the department is only concerned about the mask can effectively prevent viruses, the dye part by the Bureau of Standards and Inspection specifications. According to the standards of the Bureau of Standards and Testing, general textiles cannot be tested for azo coloring, and medical masks certainly cannot be tested. But in the past, the color of medical masks were relatively simple, but recently more and more colors and patterns, so the future to consider the color of special raw materials into the project to check the factory.
The Food and Drug Administration pointed out that if mask manufacturers want to manufacture a variety of color masks, they should ask raw material manufacturers to submit relevant inspection reports. If the inspection plant found that does not comply with the provisions of the raw materials, will require the destruction; if the use of azo coloring materials detected in violation of the law, can be imposed in accordance with the Pharmaceutical Affairs Law 30,000 to 2 million fines.
Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs, the Bureau of Standards and Inspection, said that the general safety requirements for textiles specifications, on the limited use of 22 kinds of azo coloring materials, there has been a plan to launch market testing, and currently will not set standards for masks again.
In this regard, Taiwan media quoted doctors pointed out that masks are closer to the face and nose, the standard should be more stringent than the general clothing textiles; people want to reduce health risks, it is best to buy white or light-colored masks.
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