China's 'Mask Carcinogen' Claim Controversy... "Be Sure to Shake Before Use"

The photo is unrelated to specific expressions in the article.

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Seoyoung] Recently, a claim has emerged in China that shaking a mask before wearing it can minimize carcinogenic substances.

According to reports from local Chinese media such as Kankanxinwen on the 1st, a video posted by a man has recently become a hot topic online in China. The video features a man wearing a white gown who asserts that "before wearing a mask, it must be shaken about 10 to 20 times in the air to minimize carcinogenic substances."

The man mentioned that if the mask is worn immediately after opening the packaging, residual substances soaked in alcohol disinfected with ethylene oxide could cause cancer. In fact, ethylene oxide is used as an important disinfectant in industries such as cleaning and pharmaceuticals, and high concentrations of ethylene oxide can cause harm to the human body or induce cancer, thus it is classified as a Group 1 carcinogen.

This is not the first time safety concerns regarding masks related to ethylene oxide have arisen. Last winter, baseless posts claiming to be opinions from mask experts were circulated on various social networking services (SNS) in Korea. Those posts also included content stating that masks sterilized with the carcinogenic substance ethylene oxide could cause aftereffects to wearers.

A claim has emerged in China that masks should be shaken before wearing to prevent carcinogens.
[Photo by Online Community Capture]

However, experts explained, "While this chemical may actually be used for mask sterilization, it is not directly applied to the mask but sterilizes the packaging." In other words, the possibility of this substance remaining on the mask is low. Experts also stated, "It is true that ethylene oxide is highly toxic, but it is only dangerous when exposed above a certain amount," and added, "Masks officially distributed domestically are not sterilized with ethylene oxide during the manufacturing process."

In fact, some medical masks produced in certain factories are shipped about 14 days after processing due to the possibility of chemical residue. In China as well, masks are considered safe and allowed for supply only if the ethylene oxide content in the shipped masks meets the standard of 10μg/g or less, so these claims have been found to lack scientific basis.