The warning came after President Trump wondered if the coronavirus could be combatted by an internal injection of disinfectant.
WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency is reminding people to only use disinfectant on surfaces.
The EPA issued the update after President Donald Trump suggested it might be helpful to inject disinfectant to combat the coronavirus.
During his daily coronavirus press briefing on Thursday, Trump suggested that perhaps a blast of ultraviolet light could kill the virus.
He also added: “I see the disinfectant that knocks it 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.”
The EPA, however, says, “Never apply the product to yourself or others. Do not ingest disinfectant products.”
“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,” said Alexandra Dapolito Dunn, assistant administrator of EPA’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention in a statement. “We also want everyone follow the directions on the product so that we can safely use registered disinfectants and provide critical protection to our families.”
William Bryan of the Department of Homeland Security said at a White House briefing on Thursday “emerging results” from new research suggest solar light has a powerful effect in killing the virus on surfaces and in the air.
But he said there was no consideration of internal use of disinfectants.
The maker of Lysol, a popular disinfectant brand, also issued a statement warning people not to ingest their cleaning products.
Additional reporting from Associated Press.
Kimberly Lawson Kimberly Lawson is editor of COURIER. She is a former alt weekly newspaper editor and freelance writer based in the South, and her writing has been featured in the New York Times, VICE, Rewire.News, The Week and more.
