The American Cleaning Institute (ACI) issued a statement on Friday morning in response to speculation about the use of disinfectants in or on one’s body:
“Disinfectants are meant to kill germs or viruses on hard surfaces. Under no circumstances should they ever be used on one’s skin, ingested or injected internally.
“We remind everyone to please use all hygiene, cleaning and disinfecting products as directed in order to ensure safe, effective and intended use of those products.” the institute said.
The Environmental Protection Agency warned Americans not to “ingest disinfectant products” on Friday after President Trump seemingly suggested they could combat the novel coronavirus that way a day earlier.
The EPA, in a release, urged Americans to pay attention to directions for EPA-registered surface disinfectants. Meanwhile, the president on Friday insisted he was being “sarcastic” with his comments a day earlier.
“Never apply the product to yourself or others,” the release said. “Do not ingest disinfectant products.”
The EPA added that those products include “never applying any product” on the agency’s list of disinfectants “to use against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, directly to food.”
“Never mix products unless specified in the use directions,” they wrote. “Certain combinations of chemicals will create highly toxic acids or gases.”
“The EPA is dedicated to its mission of protecting human health and we want all Americans to have access to effective and approved surface disinfectant products,” EPA assistant administrator of the EPA’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, Alexandra Dapolito Dunn, said in a statement Friday.
“We also want everyone to follow the directions on the product so that we can safely use registered disinfectants and provide critical protection to our families,” she added.
Clorox and Lysol quickly also released a statement on social media after President Donald Trump suggested people could possibly protect themselves from coronavirus by injecting disinfectant.
“Due to recent speculation and social media activity, RB (the makers of Lysol) has been asked whether internal administration of disinfectants may be appropriate for investigation or use as a treatment for coronavirus,” the company said. “As a global leader in health and hygiene products, we must be clear that under no circumstance should our disinfectant products be administered into the human body (through injection, ingestion or any other route).”
RB added that its disinfectant and hygiene products should only be used as intended and in line with usage guidelines.
A Clorox spokesperson said in a statement, “Bleach and other disinfectants are not suitable for consumption or injection under any circumstances. People should always read the label for proper usage instructions.”
The Clorox statement added that disinfecting surfaces with bleach and other disinfecting products is one of the ways to help stop the spread of COVID-19, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
President Trump did not name any particular disinfectant brands, but this is what he said on Thursday night during the White House coronavirus press briefing: “I see the disinfectant that knocks [coronavirus] out in a minute, one minute. And is there a way we can do something like that by injection inside or almost a cleaning? As you see, it gets in the lungs, it does a tremendous number on the lungs, so it would be interesting to check that.”
Food and Drug Administration chief Dr. Stephen Hahn is also getting word out to protect consumers.
“I certainly wouldn’t recommend the internal ingestion of a disinfectant.”
For proper usage of disinfectants and information on cleaning in the age of coronavirus, please contact us here: https://connclean.com/contact/
