PSA: don’t inject disinfectants into your body.
In response to the growing search trends regarding the curative effects of bleach, disinfectant, and administering injections thereof, the manufacturers of Lysol and Dettol released a statement — don’t do that.
In a White House press briefing yesterday, President Donald Trump speculated that injecting disinfectant could be a viable source of treatment for the COVID-19 virus. His suggestion followed Department of Homeland Security’s undersecretary for Science and Technology, William Bryan, who, in his presentation, explained the effects of disinfectant on the virus in saliva.
As a result of the viral moment, Twitter’s “trending topics” this morning included a large number of searches for Dettol and Zoflora — companies that produce disinfectant and other home cleaning products.
In response to these queries, the British manufacturers of Lysol and Dettol products, Reckitt Benckiser, released a statement earlier today which read:
Due to recent speculation and social media activity, RB (the makers of Lysol and Dettol) has been asked whether internal administration of disinfectants may be appropriate for investigation or use as a treatment for coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2).
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). As with all products, our disinfectant and hygiene products should only be used as intended and in line with usage guidelines. Please read the label and safety information.
We have a responsibility in providing consumers with access to accurate, up-to-date information as advised by leading public health experts. For this and other myth-busting facts, please visit Covid-19facts.com.
In a report released earlier today by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, it’s noted that the number of daily calls to poison centers have “increased sharply” since the beginning of March. It goes on to note:
Further analysis of the increase in calls from 2019 to 2020 (3,137 for cleaners, 4,591 for disinfectants), showed that among all cleaner categories, bleaches accounted for the largest percentage of the increase (1,949; 62.1%), whereas nonalcohol disinfectants (1,684; 36.7%) and hand sanitizers (1,684; 36.7%) accounted for the largest percentages of the increase among disinfectant categories. Inhalation represented the largest percentage increase from 2019 to 2020 among all exposure routes, with an increase of 35.3% (from 4,713 to 6,379) for all cleaners and an increase of 108.8% (from 569 to 1,188) for all disinfectants. Two illustrative case vignettes are presented to highlight the types of chemical exposure calls managed by poison centers.
Long story short…use disinfectants for cleaning external surfaces only! Stay safe.
[Featured image via shutterstock]