Covid-19 Test Swab

Do nasopharyngeal swabs, like those used in PCR (polymerase chain reaction) testing for COVID-19, affect your longevity and aging? No, that's not true: Most research about the effectiveness and safety of such swabs suggests that they pose no significant threat to most patients. The claim appeared in a video (archived here) posted on TikTok on April 28, 2023. The video…

Do PCR tests contain magnetic beacons that can be used for tagging, tracking or patenting humans? No, that's not true: No known magnetic substances, including beacons, are used in PCR tests or the swabs used to collect the samples. The tests are not new to medicine. They've been used for decades to detect viruses and bacteria. The claims appeared in…

Does regularly consuming a cup of java increase the odds of developing cancer thanks to the chemical acrylamide in the brew? No, that's not true: Repeated medical studies have found no link between acrylamide and cancer, the National Cancer Institute reports. Medical experts have found no conclusive evidence of a cancer risk from coffee in general, and have instead found…

Do COVID-19 vaccines or PCR tests make people "magnetic"? No, that's not true. There is no evidence that either of them can increase what is perceived as "magnetism." But theatrical glue, oily skin or body cream can do the trick of making objects stick to skin without fundamentally altering the properties of the human body, which is not known for…

Do COVID-19 nasal test swabs contain both lithium and DARPA hydrogel that allow recipients to be remotely controlled? No, that's not true: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) told Lead Stories that nasal swabs used to test for COVID do not contain lithium or hydrogel from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The claim appeared in a TikTok video…

Are disposable COVID-19 testing swabs that have been sterilized using ethylene oxide (EO) gas considered carcinogenic and dangerous when used daily? No, that's not true: Only minuscule amounts of EO remain after processing. Matthew J. Arduino, a senior adviser for the Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) told Lead Stories, "Cancer is…

Is the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention collecting DNA through COVID-19 test samples? No, that's not true: The CDC published a tweet on February 16, 2022, that stated that if a person took a COVID nose swab test there was "a 10% chance that it ended up in a lab for genomic sequencing analysis." The following day, February 17,…

Did Johns Hopkins University confirm you can be vaccinated with a COVID-19 PCR test, even without knowing it? No, that's not true: Johns Hopkins Medicine says details about one of its devices have been "inaccurately used for disinformation purposes," the device "has not been approved for use in humans" and has neither been "tested nor used for vaccine delivery." The…

Did an orange and a lemon test positive for COVID-19? Does using a test improperly, with fruit juice rather than a nasal swab, show that home tests are unreliable and will return false positives for anything? No, that's not true: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) to many makers of home antigen diagnostic tests…

Is a lethal drug included in over-the-counter COVID-19 test kits? Yes, but that is misleading. In the Abbott Laboratories home kit, the drug sodium azide is in the liquid in a dropper bottle, with the liquid placed on the paper test card where the swab is inserted after being used to gather a specimen. The small amount of sodium azide…