The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released a list of approved disinfectants it recommends using to combat COVID-19, also known as the novel Coronavirus. According to a press release from the EPA, the disinfectant products registered on the list have qualified for use against COVID-19 through the agency's Emerging Viral Pathogen Program, a service established in 2016 which allows manufacturers to provide the EPA with data, even in advance of an outbreak, that shows the products are effective against harder-to-kill viruses like SARS-CoV-2.
“Using the correct disinfectant is an important part of preventing and reducing the spread of illnesses along with other critical aspects such as hand washing,” said Andrew Wheeler, EPA administrator, in a press release. “There is no higher priority for the Trump Administration than protecting the health and safety of Americans. EPA is providing this important information in a public and transparent manner on disinfectant products to help reduce the spread of COVID-19."
The list, which can be found in full here, contains a number of products including dilutable substances, wipes, and ready to use products from companies such as Ecolab, Stepan Company, The Clorox Company and Clorox Professional Products Company, Sterilex, Lonza LLC, Professional Disposables International, North American Infection Control, Reckitt Benckiser, and more. According to the EPA, in addition to primary products, distributors may also sell products with identical formulations and identical efficacy as the primary products, so although distributor products frequently use different brand names, you can identify them by their three-part EPA Reg. Number. The first two parts of the EPA Reg. No. match the primary product, plus a third set of numbers that represents the Distributor ID number. For example, EPA Reg. No. 12345-12-2567 is a distributor product with an identical formulation and efficacy to the primary product with the EPA Reg. No. 12345- 12. Additionally, if you would like to review the product label information for any of the listed products, you can search through the EPA'S product label system.
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