The majority of Belgians use disinfectants inappropriately, which increases the risks for the user or the environment and reduces the effectiveness of the products, according to a study commissioned by the Biocides department of the FPS Public Health published on Friday . In 2021, the Poisons Center recorded nearly 4,000 accidents related to products used to fight once morest undesirable organisms (biocides).
The survey was carried out in the spring of 2022 among 2,025 people of all genders and ages, from all over Belgium. It looked at the use of three types of biocidal products, namely hydroalcoholic gels (PT01), disinfectants for surfaces that are not in contact with food (PT02) and those for disinfecting surfaces in contact with food (PT04). The objective of the study was to identify usage habits, risky behaviors, apprehension of the instructions, purchasing processes and the influence of the pandemic.
The latter has clearly had an impact on consumption frequencies, since the Poisons Center counted five times more accidents with hydroalcoholic gels in 2021 compared to 2019 (before the health crisis) and 1.5 times more problems in link with PT02 and PT04.
Between 2021 and 2022, 66% of respondents used PT01, 67% of PT02 and 44% of PT04, “use on their own, by choice or by habit”, note the experts, while emphasizing the role of Covid-19. The epidemic is systematically in the top 3 justifications for the use of this type of product.
However, the study reveals that 53% of respondents using PT01 “do not know the instructions for the expiry date and the contact time necessary to be effective” and that 36% mistakenly think that these same biocides have cleaning properties, while 4% acknowledged having already mixed the disinfectant with another, affecting its effectiveness.
PT02 and PT04 were also misused, since the survey reported “inappropriate behavior, whether in terms of knowledge and compliance with the expiry date, dilution instructions, instructions for rinsing surfaces following use (PT04) or waste management (packaging and product residues).”
Specialists explain this “non-compliance with the instructions for use and safety” by the fact that the people questioned do not read the information available on the packaging. Among them, 5 to 8% consider the information unclear, or not at all.
For the authors of the study, the two main reasons are problems related to readability (font too small, presence of too much information, lack of contrast) and vocabulary, with terms deemed too scientific and difficult to understand.
