Access to household goods is often favoured for commodities with anti-bacterial markers. When consumers saw the antibacterial tests attached to the product, they thought that they had found a strong assistant to guard their health, as if the report were a “pyramid sign” for the product to be antibacterial for life. However, this is a very vulnerable area of error: antibacterial testing reports can guarantee the product a lifetime antibacterial performance.
At the beginning of their life, antibacterial tests are reported with a rigorous and scientific process. Specialized laboratories select specific bacteria according to established standards, simulate daily use scenes and test products for antibacterial efficacy. A seemingly “authoritarian” test report is produced when the product shows, under experimental conditions, the ability to suppress or kill common fungus, such as coliform and yellow grapes, which reach the eligible line. It provides a strong endorsement for the market entry of products and allows consumers to bring them home with confidence, with the expectation that these antibacterial products will be used to create a microbacterial living environment.
But the reality is much more complex than the laboratory. Time is one of the most powerful “enemy” of anti-bacterial performance. In the case of anti-bacterial plastics, the new plant is capable of effectively preventing bacteria from growing in detection, with the addition of antibacterials to the material. However, with frequent use, the internal antibacterial components are gradually being lost as the food is washed up, repeatedly washed, evaporated with high temperatures and sustained friction. Active groups that had been closely arranged and capable of capturing bacteria had been destroyed, and the “barriers” against bacteria had naturally emerged as a gap, allowing bacteria to take advantage of them.
Environmental factors add variables to changes in antibacterial performance. An antibacterial fabric may be perfect for inhibiting bacteria in a hot, wet, clean laboratory environment. But once in daily life, the situation is much different. In the southern moist season, the air is more than 90 per cent wet, and fabrics are chronically damp and hot, and are highly susceptible to fungus, bacteria’ “breedingware”. Contaminated by humans, such as sweat and leather, which are nutrient-rich not only captures part of the antibacterial composition, but also provides a “hotbed” for bacteria to reproduce, making antibacterial effects significantly less effective.
It is often overlooked by consumers that the test report reflects performance only at one stage of the product and under certain conditions. It’s like a “health snapshot” when the product is young, not a “health file” that’s never changed. This misunderstanding has been used intentionally and inadvertently by some businesses to over-sensitize the effectiveness of the testing reports, leading consumers to assume that they have purchased “forever” antibacterial theorists.
To overcome this error, consumers themselves need to improve their ability to identify. The long-term antibacterial capacity of the product cannot be judged by relying solely on a test report, and more attention should be paid to the material characteristics of the product, the maintenance requirements in the instructions for its use, and the long-term effects of the feedback from other users. At the same time, the regulatory authorities need to strengthen their ongoing monitoring of the market for anti-bacterial products by requiring businesses to regularly update the product’s anti-bacterial performance data and to deal harshly with exaggerated propaganda. Producers, on the other hand, should be guided by the principle of good faith in informing consumers of possible changes in antibacterial performance of products at different stages and in various environments, and even in the development of smart antibacterial products, real-time monitoring and feedback to users on antibacterial state. Only by working together can antibacterial products be truly effective, rather than making consumers misled by the illusion of “life-long antibacterial”.
