Are the cotton swabs used for nucleic acid testing poisonous? Rumor!

March 28

Shanghai begins a new round of nucleic acid screening in different areas

At the same time, a rumor spread on the Internet

The general idea is

"The cotton swab used for sampling has reagents on it, which is toxic."

Some netizens also left a message saying

The elderly in the family saw the rumors and

Not only do I not want to participate in nucleic acid screening

I also hope that the younger generation will try not to

Conduct nucleic acid testing and antigen testing

Nucleic acid testing and antigen testing

Is there any difference between the cotton swabs used and ordinary cotton swabs?

Are there reagents on it that pose a threat to health?

Shanghai Rumor Refutation Platform

From multiple test kit manufacturers

The same answer was given

👇👇👇

“The sampling cotton swab is different from the cotton swabs used in daily life.

But it does not contain reagents and is not toxic."

Tang Rong, head of Mohe Medical Technology (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., which is engaged in the production of antigen testing kits, told reporters that the "cotton swabs" used for sampling should be called "sampling swabs" and they are not the cotton swabs used in daily life.

The biggest difference between the two is↓↓↓

The raw material of cotton swabs in daily life is absorbent cotton;

The sampling swab looks similar to a regular cotton swab, but the tip is actually a flocked swab.

The front end of the flocked swab uses nylon staple fibers fixed in a vertical manner, so that there are no absorption holes in the collection area of ​​the entire collection swab. The collected samples will not be dispersed and retained in the fibers, which is conducive to faster and more efficient elution and is more suitable for sampling and testing.

According to relevant data, flocking swabs can elute more than 85% of the sample collection volume.

The sampling swab is enlarged. Source: Shanghai Internet Rumor Refutation

Netizens who have performed "family stabbing" in the past two days

I've experienced it myself.

The difference between sampling swabs and ordinary cotton swabs

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After sampling, the sampling swab needs to be rotated in the preservation solution for at least 30 seconds and the swab head needs to be squeezed for at least 5 seconds.

However, using ordinary cotton swabs will not only fail to wash out the sample, but the cotton wool will also absorb the preservative solution, and what is squeezed out is also a mixture of the sample and the preservative solution.

So the saying that "sampling cotton swabs are poisonous"

It's complete nonsense.

Tang Rong told reporters that the sampling swab is a medical device, and the basic requirement for a qualified product is that it is non-toxic and harmless. Moreover, the sampling swab itself does not contain any soaking reagents, nor does it need to contain reagents.

Many manufacturers have stated that according to national regulations, disposable samplers are classified as Class I medical devices, which not only have strict production environment requirements and quality supervision standards, but also require filing. Qualified products are definitely non-toxic and harmless.

Source: Science Popularization China WeChat Official Account

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