Within the classification of Chinese disinfection products, one type of disinfectant is used for disinfecting the skin and mucous membranes. Although this mucosal disinfectant is only intended for use at medical institutions, there have been cases recorded of illegal use by enterprises that take advantage of consumer’s low awareness of the distinction between disinfectants and medicine. This has led to the use of disinfectants instead of regular medicine, which endangers the health of consumers. In 2018, in order to crack down on the illegal production and sale of unqualified, counterfeit disinfectants as well as to improve government oversight and protect consumers’ health, law enforcement officers from China’s Provincial Health Supervision Institute have begun conducting spot checks in stores offering medicinal, maternal and infants well as hygiene products.

The human epidermis, especially children’s, is susceptible to irritation. At present there is a wide variety of skin and mucosal disinfectants  on the market, yet the product quality greatly varies across manufacturers, especially when it comes to infant skin care products, such as disinfecting wipes and other hand and skin disinfection products. Moreover, common issues tend to arise at the verification stage. For instance, some operators do not request the valid certificates and product safety reports from manufacturers when they purchase disinfection products; some labels may even wrongly claim therapeutic effects, while others fail to present all necessary information.

In response, law enforcement officers are now more frequently visit establishments to issue inspection reports, take products found to be non-compliant off the shelves as well as request certificates for on-sale products to ensure they do not pose any danger. In the next stage, the Health Inspection Department will establish a normalized monitoring mechanism for disinfectants to further improve the management of operators, standardize the market order of disinfectants, and safeguard the health and safety of the Chinese people.