Chinanews Client Beijing, August 7 (Zuo Yukun) If you say that wearing a mask in this sultry summer is a kind of "torture", then what is more cruel than "torture" is the mask you wear so hard Useless.
From the “difficult to find a mask” at the beginning of the year to everywhere today, the “quantity” of the necessities of life—masks has been raised, but the “quality” cannot be lowered. Recently, major inspections of masks have been launched in many places.
The security reminded the audience to wear a mask. Photo by Zhang Hengwei
Make multiple masks "blacklist"
On August 5, the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Market Supervision issued an announcement stating that random inspections of masks sold on the Beijing market found that 18 masks had quality problems, mainly due to filtration efficiency, leakage, and labeling that did not meet relevant standards.
Well-known brand Honeywell appeared in the list of disqualifications. A batch of "Honeywell Anti-PM2.5 Professional Protective Masks" samples produced by Honeywell Safety Protection Equipment (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. are unqualified products, and unqualified items are identified.
In response, Honeywell responded on the 7th that the quality indicators of this mask product were all qualified, and the problem was that the recommended storage conditions were not indicated on the label. Moreover, this is an old mask, which has no production and no sales before the end of 2019.
There is also an Internet celebrity mask that sells "the same style as a celebrity"-the "PITTA" brand sponge mask made in Japan also has problems. In this spot check, it was found that a 3-piece-bag of "PITTA" adult black-gray sponge mask manufactured by Alex Co., Ltd. did not meet the requirements of relevant standards in terms of filtration efficiency, leakage, headband, and identification. .
In a supermarket in Xicheng District, Beijing, masks are placed in a conspicuous position beside the cashier. Photo by Zuo Yukun
On August 4, the Henan Provincial Market Supervision Bureau announced a list of 15 batches of unqualified masks. Among them, one batch of KN95 protective masks produced by Henan Umax Health Technology Co., Ltd. has a measured minimum filtration efficiency of 30.1%, and its standard requires ≥95%.
On July 28, the Guangdong Provincial Market Supervision Bureau announced the results of non-medical mask product quality supervision and spot checks. In a random inspection of the quality of 653 non-medical mask products produced by 579 enterprises in Guangdong Province, 174 products produced by 160 enterprises were found to be unqualified. Among the unqualified items, the filtration efficiency ranks first.
Also at the end of July, the market supervision bureaus of Jinan and Zibo in Shandong Province successively released the results of special random inspections on the quality of local mask products. Among the 9 batches of unqualified masks in Jinan, the unqualified items are mainly filtration efficiency and protection effect. ; The unqualified items of 22 batches of unqualified masks in Zibo City are all filtering efficiency.
Filtration efficiency "stuck neck", non-medical masks become the hardest hit area
With the development of spot checks in various places, the main problems of the mask market have also emerged: "The filtration efficiency is not up to the standard" has become the "old difficulty" of mask products.
At the end of April, the State Administration of Market Supervision announced the results of the “special inspection of non-medical mask product quality supervision” since February. A total of 51 batches of products from 47 companies were found to be unqualified, and most of the unqualified items were poor filtration efficiency. Meet the requirements.
Filtration efficiency is one of the most important properties of masks, which directly reflects the quality of masks.
According to a notice from the Guangdong Provincial Market Supervision Bureau, unqualified filtration efficiency may result in masks not being able to effectively filter suspended particulates in the air (such as bacteria, viruses, dust, etc.), which greatly increases the risk of illness or infection for users.
Data map: Inspectors from Guangzhou Customs Technology Center conduct respiratory resistance tests on masks. Photo by Guan Yue
"At present, substandard masks are mainly produced by non-medical mask manufacturers." Experts from the drug supervision system told the media.
Why is this?
"According to China's current standards, medical masks are managed as Class II medical devices, and their production and operation need to obtain licensed medical device production qualifications in accordance with the law." Mr. Chen, who has been in the mask industry for many years, told Chinanews.com, "The production and sales of non-medical masks No special qualification license is required."
According to Mr. Chen, the “Decision on Adjusting the Catalogue of Industrial Product Production License Management and Strengthening Interim and Ex-post Supervision” issued in September 2019 cancelled the management of industrial product production licenses for special labor protection products. Therefore, the production of non-medical masks no longer needs to obtain an industrial product production license, as long as it meets the market access conditions of general industrial enterprises.
“Especially during the epidemic period, many places have dealt with special affairs for anti-epidemic products companies, and the registration procedures have been greatly shortened. People who are halfway through the family swarm in, and the appearance of substandard masks is naturally unavoidable.” Mr. Chen said.
"The mask is unqualified, and the manufacturer may also be pitted"
"My friend's friend was sued in Chongqing for selling substandard masks, but he actually didn't know that he was selling fake masks." Ma Fei (a pseudonym) is Mr. Chen's "halfway renunciation" in the mask business.
But in Ma Fei’s view, many manufacturers of substandard masks did not deliberately falsify: “The quality problems of new factories like him are mainly due to inexperience. Especially in the research and judgment of melt blown cloth, they often I bought a fake one."
Melt blown cloth, known as the "heart" of the mask, is also the core that determines the filtering effect of the mask. During the epidemic, the demand for masks soared, and the price of meltblown cloth soared from around 20,000 yuan/ton a year ago, reaching a maximum of 700,000 yuan/ton. Under the lure of profit, low-quality meltblown cloth also flocked to the market.
"It took hundreds of thousands of inspections for three times, but still failed to pass the CE certification (a mandatory requirement for entering the EU market), which is a big loss for melt blown cloth." Xiang Zhongxin, a mask manufacturer who has never realized export plans Net sighed.
"(Buying fake meltblown cloth) strictly speaking is the problem of the factory master. Buying materials needs to be confirmed by the factory master. At that time, I watched the video of the meltblown cloth to order. Some masters knew whether it would work if they watched the video. Some masters can't. The price of meltblown cloth is one hour per hour. Basically, the master determines the price, and the boss pays the money, and it will be out of stock later.” Ma Fei introduced.
"However, production samples must also be tested, and testing is not justified if we continue to produce them," he added.
Data map: 2020 Hunan Automobile Exhibition, the crowd of car models wearing masks. Photo by Yang Huafeng
A few days ago, the Market Supervision Administration of Siming District, Xiamen City, Fujian Province investigated and dealt with a case of unqualified disposable masks. In the face of the inspection, the person in charge of the company said that because of the surge in demand for masks, the quality of the raw material meltblown cloth was uneven, and they were also fooled into buying shoddy raw materials.
“Mask finished products manufacturers should be responsible for the quality of their products. If the raw material suppliers have substandard illegal activities, they can report to the relevant departments, or they can resort to the law to recover.” Law enforcement officials pointed out.
The mask industry has reached the "wake-up time"
“Most of our end customers are foreign and are affected by the epidemic. However, there are employees in the factory who need to support and rent the factory. There is no way, so they can only make mask machines.” Yuan Tian (pseudonym) was also in the epidemic. During the period, he was involved in the mask industry. Originally engaged in the production of shoe machines, he did not directly make masks, but chose a mask machine that also produces equipment.
Business is not easy to do. Immature technology is one aspect, and the unstable order makes Yuan Tian a headache.
"In June, I was cheated once. The other party placed an order and placed a deposit. We prepared the materials, but they cancelled it. As a result, we pressed dozens of materials and a lot of money." Yuan Tian Recalled.
After dozens of machines were lying in the warehouse without anyone interested for nearly two months, Yuan Tian made up his mind to give up the mask machine business. Taking advantage of the recent small climax of the injunction of masks in many countries, Yuan Tian has consumed the inventory at a cost price of 11,000 yuan per unit.
"I don't want to make money anymore. I'm very satisfied to get me back to the original point." Yuan Tian said.
Data map: Workers are assembling mask machines. Photo by Li Xin
"Demand for masks abroad is still in a state of surge. There is still room for profitability of masks, but compared to the outbreak of the epidemic, it has decreased. With the price of masks falling and the demand for them, etc., the market for masks and profit margins are further shrinking. "The famous economist Song Qinghui told Chinanews.com that the mask industry is expected to have overcapacity in 2021 and become a long-term low-profit industry, while the profits of foundry companies will be thinner.
"This rectification of the mask industry is bound to have a positive impact on the follow-up development of my country's mask market and can effectively maintain the order and quality of the mask industry." Song Qinghui said.
Have you been pitted by substandard masks? (Finish)