Cotton swabs are part of basic hygiene for many people. However, the chopsticks with plastic may no longer be produced. Öko-Test took a close look at the alternatives.
Since July 3 of last year, the manufacture of single-use plastic products has been banned throughout the EU, as have disposable containers made of Styrofoam. This includes, for example, drinking straws, to-go cups and food containers.
But even cotton swabs are no longer allowed to use plastic. Producers have therefore switched to bamboo and paper. One manufacturer, for example, uses the same rolls of paper that are used for lollipops.
Öko-Test wanted to know exactly how good these new cotton swabs are for issue 05/2022 and sent 25 different brands to the laboratory. Including 21 standard cotton swabs and four baby safety swabs.
What can be problematic about cotton swabs is the bleaching agents used. But one should also not lose sight of the consumption of raw materials. Öko-Test therefore also checks whether the cotton swabs use recycled paper or not.
You can read the complete ÖKO-TEST test for a fee here.
Good, but not always without problems
The positive news first: No cotton swab fails the test. 21 of the tested products scored “very good”, four still “good”.
Öko-Test was able to detect halogen-organic compounds in the laboratory on the four slightly devalued cotton swabs. According to the tester, it is true that with an analysis it is not possible to say exactly which connections are involved. But in general, many of the often chlorine-containing substances are considered to be allergenic.
Öko-Test also criticized the fact that only four of the tested cotton swabs used recycled paper. However, there are no point deductions for this. The reason: waste paper is currently scarce and the manufacturers had little time to adapt, not least because of Corona.
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The test winners at a glance
Since none of the cotton swabs tested performed poorly, all of them tend to be recommended. The top products include many private labels from discounters and drugstores. Among the baby products, these are among the top choices (“very good”):
- Babydream safety cotton swabs by Rossmann (view at Amazon)
- Babylove safety cotton swabs from DM
Among the standard cotton swabs, these cotton swabs are among the top choices (“very good”):
- Bel Nature cotton swabs from CMC (view at Amazon)
- Bevola cotton buds from Kaufland
- Blackbird organic cotton buds from Budnikowsky
- Cien cotton buds from Lidl
Exact results and further details can be found in the Öko-Test test.