The Department of Consumer Protection (DCP) of the Executive Yuan randomly tested 10 commercially available UV disinfection lamps in brick-and-mortar stores and e-commerce platforms in November of last year (2021). Although all of the quality testing results met the national standards, 10 items showed high risk of UV photochemical hazard, and 6 showed low risk of blue-light hazard, which can potentially harm consumers' health if used improperly. In addition, the warning signs were not adequate, which can potentially affect consumers' health. The DCP has requested the competent authority, the Ministry of Economic Affairs, to properly guide the suppliers, and to discuss the modification of the national standards. In addition, the 6 items that failed to meet the labeling requirements were reported to the Ministry of Economic Affairs' Central Region Office for disciplinary actions according to law, and corrections have been made.
In recent years, the COVID-19 pandemic has continued to spread in Taiwan; therefore, UV disinfection lamps that claim to provide rapid sterilization have become popular epidemic control products. However, media coverage indicated that an infant care center used UV disinfection lamps improperly and caused photokeratitis, redness and swelling of the skin in young children. In response, the DCP inspected 6 UV disinfection lamps (including household, automobile, and personal use) in brick-and-mortar stores and 4 in e-commerce platforms (10 in total) in November last year for quality testing and labeling. The relevant testing and inspection results are as follows:
1. Quality testing: All of the items met the requirements of CNS 15592 Photobiological safety of lamps and lamp systems. However, the following issues were discovered:
(1) UV photochemical hazard (to the skin and eyes): 10 items showed high risks. That is to say, even a brief or instant exposure to the light source can cause damage.
(2) Blue-light hazard (to the retinas): 6 items showed low risks. That is to say, average exposure (within 100 seconds) to the light source will not cause damage. The other 4 showed no risk.
(3) IR radiation hazard (to the eyes): All 10 items showed no risks.
(4) Near-UV hazard (to the eyes): All 10 items showed no risks.
All 10 items showed high risk of UV photochemical hazard --- although all of the items have different degrees of protection mechanisms, such as delayed activation, timed deactivation or deactivation upon detecting a human body, only 4 have the deactivation mechanism upon detecting a human body. Therefore, the DCP further studied the content and location of the warning signs of the products. The results show that only 1 item had complete warning signs on the product itself claiming that “it shall only be used when no human being, animal or plant is around” and “it shall not be used as a bug zapper or general lighting.” The remaining items have the following issues:
(1) Warning signs were placed on the product itself that “it shall only be used when no human being, animal or plant is around”: 4 items.
(2) Warning signs were placed on the exterior packaging or instruction manuals but not on the product itself or only English warnings were placed on the product itself: 3 items.
(3) The content of the warning was misleading (“moderate amount of UV light is harmless to the human body”; “do not look directly at UV light for more than 10 seconds; the skin shall not be exposed to this environment for more than 10 minutes”): 2 items.
2. Product labeling inspection: 6 products in total failed to meet the requirements. Their major defects are as listed below:
(1) The manufacturing year and number were not labeled on the product itself, or the labeling was incomplete: 6 items.
(2) The place of origin was not labeled or not labeled in Mandarin Chinese on the product itself: 4 items.
The inspection results of this case were reported to the Consumer Protection Committee for resolution: The competent authority, the Ministry of Economic Affairs, has been requested to strengthen consumer education, and discuss the viability of adding a requirement for including the protection mechanism of deactivation upon detecting a human body and the labeling of warning signs on the product itself to the CNS standard, in order to avoid improper use by consumers.
Lastly, the DCP reminds consumers to pay attention to the following matters when buying or using UV disinfection lamps:
1. Choose a UV disinfection lamp that has complete labeling, and read the warning signs or important matters for usage.
2. Use the product when there are no people, animals or plants around. When the lamp is in use, do not stay in the lighted area, and do not look directly at the UV light source.
3. Exposure to UV light can cause erythema and cataracts. Please do not use the lamp as general lighting.