I wonder whether I should worry about toxicity if I've been using them correctly?<p><i>since the reagent solution packaging may include ampules that allow for application of drops of solution to the test device, inadvertent ocular sodium azide exposures can occur if the ampule is mistaken for an eyedropper.</i><p>Ok, then...
I guess it is important to study everything that could go wrong, because kids will eat anything, etc.<p>But the main point here is... obviously don't eat the chemicals that come with a covid test. And don't use the chemical reagent dropper as eye drops.
Important recommendations from the article: don't eat, drink, or put in the eye most parts of a Covid test. The article doesn't mention the paper package, you might be safe eating that.
The pertinent points from the article are1) reagents contain chemicals (I kid you not about the article making this point). Chemicals are known to be potential irritants and some may cause allergic reactions. And 2) sodium azide ingestion leads to transient hypotension which could be seen in kids because of their smaller body size meaning higher effective dose per weight.<p>poison control in the US reports 153 ingestions with no sequalae.
In Taiwan they required newborn infants to do 4 PCRs and 3 at home tests. These tests are administered in the mouth(Rapid Antigen tests are actually only rated for children above 2).<p>It was infuriating to watch the absurdity and sheer insanity of where the Taiwan CDC has gone. 7 Tests in 3 weeks for a less than 1 year old and then privately telling businesses that they only have to quarantine for 3 days if they have urgent business to attend to.<p>EDIT: I wrote something stupid. Obviously they don't ingest the reagent fluid. I conflated this issue with the fact that the fibers in the swabs damage the nasopharyngeal mucosa.
Great. Now the <i>Do Your Own Research</i> people won't test because of the toxic chemicals. Nice work. Can't the ivory tower just sit on these a little while? Don't they know the depths of stupidity out there?
Just used one of these the other day. No way you’re mistaking the liquid with a twist off cap as an eye dropper (unless you’re blindly dropping mystery liquids in your eye).<p>Dermal contact is more likely. They do have ample warnings on the box though and there are plenty of other toxic things in our environment that we consciously don’t apply to the skin, so I don’t really see the problem here aside from “may contain harmful ingredients use caution”.
One thing I've been doing with a lot of stuff is just keeping medications in the original packaging. A lot of stuff just looks the same because it's all from the same manufacturers.