By Zhou Ping

An expert said Tuesday that liquid soap, which fails to meet quality standards this week, will not help to clean hands properly, and could cause more harm than good.

The comment was made Tuesday by the director of clinical microbiology at Ruijin Hospital, after a report released by the Shanghai Health Inspection Institute last week, which discovered that eight of 10 liquid soap brands from 34 local factories inspected fell short of industry standards, grading poorly mainly for its PH values, microbiological content and lack of skin testing.

The brands that fell short were WeiLi Antibacterial Armguard Liquid, Shimei Hand Sanitizer, Home Aegis, Smile, Fangjin 1210, Combi, Isababy and Runjie.

Ni Yuxing, the microbiology expert from Ruijin Hospital, said that while liquid soap is considered more effective in cleansing since it is kept in a closed container, protecting it from open bacteria, a common problem for bar soap, users need to mind the quality of liquid soap purchased.

"The microbiological levels in such products have to be within a certain range, otherwise too much bacteria exists in the liquid soaps, which means that the more the soap is used, the dirtier hands will get, essentially," he told the Global Times Tuesday.

Ni added that the lack of skin testing was also problematic.

"People are washing their hands more frequently due to enhanced health sanitation awareness, so hands could actually be exposed to more harm with every wash," he said.

The Shanghai Health Inspection Institute said that one manufacturer of the eight brands in question was punished for poor practice, while the others have been ordered to improve their products.

The institute added that more frequent inspections will be carried out in the future to ensure that the products are meeting standards.