In hot summer, babies’ delicate skin is easy to be bitten by mosquitoes. When parents buy children’s mosquito repellent products, they often prefer products with the words “green environmental protection” and “pure natural” on the package. The reporter’s investigation found that although the price of children’s mosquito repellent products on the market is relatively high, its main components are also pyrethroids and slightly toxic chemicals, and some of them even contain higher content than ordinary products, so the health risks brought by them cannot be underestimated.
mosquito repellent products play “children’s brand” ingredients unchanged, and their value rises
The reporter recently visited several supermarkets in Chongqing and found that mosquito repellent incense tablets, mosquito repellent incense liquid and other mosquito repellent products are selling well in all supermarkets. In a supermarket in Yubei District, the reporter asked whether there were mosquito repellent products suitable for children. The salesperson took out a rainbow brand “guai guai” series mosquito repellent incense sheet and said: “this kind of mosquito repellent incense sheet is specially for children. It’s an all natural formula that is safe and non-toxic. It sells very well now. Many people are willing to buy children’s products even if they don’t have children.”
After comparing it with ordinary products of the same brand, the reporter found that the effective ingredient of both products was pyrethrin. The content of pyrethrin in ordinary products was 13 mg per tablet, and the content of pyrethrin in children’s products was 40 mg per tablet, except that there were children’s pictures on the outer package.
The reporter saw that ordinary mosquito repellent products usually mark the effective ingredients on the front of the outer package in a conspicuous place, while the most conspicuous picture on the package of most children’s mosquito repellent products is the picture of children sleeping peacefully and the words “pure natural” and “safe”. Most of these children’s products are marked with “micro poison” in the inconspicuous position on the side of the outer package. The reporter saw that a mosquito repellent incense marked “Chaowei beibeibeijian” was marked with warnings such as “micro poison” and “toxic to fish and silkworms, please pay attention when using”.
In addition, the price of mosquito repellent products with the same brand, specification and pyrethrin content is generally higher for children. Take Chaowei brand 60 piece electric mosquito coil incense sheet as an example. The price of the children’s version is 26.5 yuan, and the ordinary version is only 19 yuan. The salesperson said that even if the ingredients were the same, the price of children’s products would be higher. They didn’t know the specific reason.
During the interview, the reporter met Ms. Zheng who had just bought mosquito repellent incense for children. When the reporter asked her if she knew the main ingredients, Ms. Zheng said that she always thought that the products marked on the package were for children should be non-toxic. She never cared about the main ingredients. She would usually choose the products with higher prices and felt that they should be safer.
there is no national standard for children’s mosquito repellent products, and most of them are hyped by manufacturers’
The reporter found that most of the children’s mosquito repellent products were approved by the pesticide production approval certificate and the pesticide registration certificate number. A long-term agent of mosquito repellent products told this reporter that pyrethroid chemicals such as propargyl permethrin and tetrafluoromethyl ether permethrin are the main components of mosquito repellent incense that have the effect of repelling and killing mosquitoes. These components are micro toxic chemicals. Therefore, mosquito repellent products belong to the category of pesticides, and their production, sales and use should be strictly managed in accordance with the regulations on pesticide management. Only the two certificates issued by the Ministry of industry and information technology and the Ministry of agriculture have been obtained, Only then can it be produced and sold.
The insider admitted that at present, China has not classified mosquito repellent products into adult, child, infant and other categories, and there is no national standard for children’s mosquito repellent products. The so-called “green environmental protection” and “pure nature” are mostly the concept hype of manufacturers.
The manufacturers of mosquito repellent products do not agree with this. According to the telephone number on the outer package of a product, the reporter contacted an enterprise in Guangdong that produces mosquito repellent products. The relevant person in charge of the factory said that although the main ingredients of children’s products also contain pyrethroids, they have been treated with special technology, while ordinary products have not been treated. Since mosquito repellent incense belongs to the category of pesticide management, the text identification on the package is controlled by the agricultural department, and the manufacturer can not show the difference between the two on the package. “One thing we can guarantee is that the children’s products we produce are absolutely non-toxic and harmless.”
health hazards should not be overlooked, and the market needs to be standardized urgently.
“Generally speaking, there are physical and chemical methods to kill or drive mosquitoes. The use of mosquito repellent products belongs to chemical methods.” Lu Kuilin, an expert in pediatrics at Xinqiao Hospital of the Third Military Medical University, said that the main components of so-called mosquito repellent products for children in the market are basically pyrethroids, which are slightly toxic pesticides. Even the content is higher than that of ordinary products. No matter what method they are processed, they will have certain toxicity.
Lu Kuilin said that mosquito repellent products will emit some harmful ingredients after burning or heating. Compared with adults, children’s body organs are immature, their metabolic capacity is poor, and they are more likely to be injured. They may cause dizziness, respiratory allergy, asthma and other symptoms. Mosquito repellent incense with high content of pyrethrin may also cause poisoning.
LV Kuilin cautioned that parents should not superstitious about children’s mosquito repellent products of various names. When using such products, they should pay attention to indoor ventilation and avoid using them for a long time. In addition, if conditions permit, families with children should adopt more safe and reliable physical methods to repel mosquitoes, such as installing screen windows, hanging mosquito nets, using mosquito killing lamps and electric mosquito bats.
Wang anbai, a professor at Southwest University of political science and law, believes that at present, there is no unified standard in the market of children’s mosquito repellent products, either in terms of the main ingredients or price standards, which brings certain difficulties to the supervision of relevant departments; In the absence of unified standards, manufacturers hype the concepts of “pure natural” and “green environmental protection”, which not only mislead consumers, but also greatly increase the health risks of product users.
Wang anbai suggested that, on the one hand, quality supervision, industry and Commerce and other departments should cooperate closely to increase the inspection and supervision of the market for children’s mosquito repellent products; On the other hand, relevant departments should introduce relevant policies and formulate unified standards as soon as possible to standardize the market of children’s mosquito repellent products.
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