Allegations that the British government “intentionally kills” people by using nasal swabs sterilized with ethylene oxide (EO) to test the new coronavirus are untrue. The EO sterilization process is safe, has been used on medical equipment for decades and is strictly controlled according to international standards.
Following a viral video on the same topic unveiled by Reuters last week (here), several social media users continued to share various clips discussing EO sterilization in lateral flow tests.
One video shows a man holding up an NHS COVID-19 self-test kit, which confirms on the packaging that it has been sterilized with ethylene oxide. The man says: ‘They are deliberately killing us … Now, what they are doing is injecting the end of the swabs into ethylene oxide, apparently to sterilize it. If you google ethylene oxide, it is the largest cancer-causing chemical listed on cancerresearch.com ”(here, timestamp 1.23). Comments below the video show viewers, with examples like: ‘I’ve seen so much of this and my kids are definitely not being tested’. The same track is also subtitled in Spanish (here), Croatian (here) and German (here).
Another video, posted on March 15 and viewed more than 17,900 times, features a man discussing the same subject. He says: “Ethylene oxide is present in all lateral flow tests administered in schools across the country. A quick search to see that ethylene oxide is a very toxic chemical … As we believe, the information on the government’s website is true. So they say it is carcinogenic, and they say it causes cancer. ”(Here)
A clip viewed 9100 times on Facebook shows an individual presenting a COVID-19 self-test kit that was allegedly given to their children. They raise a swab to the camera and say, “They basically sterilize it with ethylene oxide, which causes cancer and damages your DNA.” (here, here, here and here time stamp 0.39).
Other variations of the claim have been shared here, here and here on Facebook, while nearly 100 people signed a petition on Change.org to “take ethylene oxide from COVID-19 self-test kits” (here).
Although it is true to say ethylene oxide is a carcinogen, (here, here), and that the form of the gas is used to sterilize nasal swabs (here), but it is not true to indicate that the swabs are dangerous is not due to this process.
A large part of the sterilization process removes ethylene oxide residues from the product (here) and ensures that any remaining EO is negligible, thus complying with national and international safety standards (see UK legislation here, here and here, international requirements here and here, and the EU rules here).
Ethylene oxide gas is widely used to sterilize medical equipment (here) and has been for decades. In the US, it is said that 50% of medical devices are sterilized in this way (here and here).
In a previous fact check, the Department of Health and Social Care told Reuters: ‘Lateral flow tests have been carefully tested and are safe to use regularly. Any suggestions otherwise are inaccurate and harmful misinformation.
“Ethylene oxide is only used for the sterilization of swabs and it is one of the most widely used sterilization tools in the healthcare industry, which is mainly used by manufacturers to keep medical devices safe.”
VERDICT
Untrue. While it is true that ethylene oxide is carcinogenic, it is not accurate to say that it poses a danger in medical diets after sterilization. The sterilization process is thoroughly controlled to ensure that any residue that remains is negligible, using medical equipment safely.
This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. Read more about our work to actually check social media posts.