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Nowadays, there are not many consumers who apply mask disinfectant before reuse. Several products are on the market, and SBS has investigated them and found that some products contain ingredients that can be dangerous to the respiratory system.

First, reporter Ahn Sang-woo reports alone.

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These are mainly disinfectants for masks sold in online shopping malls.

When sprayed on the surface of a disposable mask, the virus or bacteria are removed.

You can easily see the advertisement phrases 'harmless to the human body' and 'extend the life of the mask'.

What ingredients are included? Analysis was commissioned to a specialized institution.

When we tested 4 of the products on the market, 2 products showed 10 to 30 ppm of 'hypochlorous acid'.

Chlorine compounds, such as hypochlorous acid, have the effect of sterilizing the virus, but even small amounts can cause diseases such as asthma if they enter the body through the respiratory tract.

[Lim Jong-Han / Professor, Department of Social Medicine, Inha University: Human cells are fine and nothing kills viruses. It kills common bacteria or has damage to our cells, or similar toxicity.]

In animal studies, asthma symptoms have been reported in the presence of respiratory disease, even in small amounts of 40 microliters of hypochlorite mixed with 30 ppm of hypochlorous acid.

As it turns out, products that have been reported as 'general disinfectants' or 'hand cleaners' that disinfect clothes or shoes are becoming illegally distributed as mask disinfectants.

Sellers claim that there is no problem by "recommending to use a mask after drying the disinfectant sufficiently", but the expert's explanation is different.

[Lim Jong-han / Professor of Inha University's School of Social Medicine: (Generally) It is highly likely to remain, and (humans) are encouraged to use it at a concentration that is 10 times or 100 times lower than the concentration of toxicity in animal experiments. So, it is very dangerous to inhale with a disinfectant on the mask ... .]

These mask disinfectant products have been distributed intensively since the beginning of this year, when Corona 19 spread in Korea, but it is not known how much they were sold.

(Video coverage: Sungil Kim, Video editing: Seungjin Lee, VJ: Oh Se-gwan)

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