What changed
China’s Consumers Association won a consumer public-interest lawsuit against three companies selling wearable chlorine-dioxide “air disinfection cards.” The court found false advertising and ordered more than 2 million yuan in punitive compensation after products were marketed with claims including germ-killing rates above 99.99% and protection against influenza or adenovirus.
Why it matters
The cards were sold as small personal shields: some listings said one could work for about 60 days, protect children, pregnant women and older adults, and disinfect within three metres. Some products reportedly sold for more than 500,000 units.
But the chemistry creates the central problem. Experts from Jiangsu’s disease-control centre and Huashan Hospital said chlorine dioxide strong enough to disinfect may also harm people, while a cited test found removal rates of only 9.75% to 12.13% in a three-cubic-metre chamber. In plain terms, the card’s advertised protection depends on a concentration that may be unsafe, while a safe concentration may not deliver the promised effect.
The ruling puts a legal cost on those claims, but it does not establish that every comparable product will disappear or that broader regulatory action will follow. Consumers are advised to check whether disinfectant products appear on China’s national online filing platform, while basic measures such as vaccination for high-risk people, hand hygiene, masks in crowded settings and ventilation remain the practical safeguards experts recommend.
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