4/28/2020 Coronavirus Tips: Do Not Ingest or Inject Disinfectant - The New York Times

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Please Do Not Eat Disinfectant

There is no evidence that sunlight, bleach or any disinfectant can cure coronavirus in the body.

By Amelia Nierenberg

April 24, 2020

There is no evidence that sunlight can cure coronavirus on the human body. Same for disinfectant and bleach. So, do not drink bleach. Do
not inject disinfectant. And do not believe there is some cure for coronavirus coming from ultraviolet light.

During Thursday’s White House coronavirus briefing, a science administrator, Wiliam N. Bryan, said the government had tested how
sunlight and disinfectants like bleach and alcohol can quickly kill Covid-19 on surfaces.

Hearing that, President Trump returned to the lectern. He speculated about injecting a disinfectant into a human body. He also wondered
aloud whether hitting someone with a “tremendous” beam of light would kill the virus.

On Friday, Mr. Trump said he did not mean the suggestions. “I was asking a question sarcastically to reporters like you just to see what
would happen,” he said.

Sarcastic or not, both of the president’s claims are without scientific basis. Killing coronavirus on inert surfaces and within living human
bodies should be treated differently.

“It’s just frightening that we have to dispel these sorts of things,” said Dr. Dean Winslow, a professor of medicine at Stanford University
who specializes in infectious disease and hospital medicine.

Sunlight is not a treatment

When the president turned to Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus response coordinator, she replied that she had not heard of
sunlight as an effective treatment for coronavirus.

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A study that went online Wednesday suggested that ultraviolet light was associated with lower growth rates of the virus. The study, done
by ecological modelers at the University of Connecticut, has not yet been peer-reviewed. Ultraviolet light has also been shown to kill the
virus on surfaces.

But for the human body, experts have long warned that ultraviolet lamps can damage DNA and turn healthy human cells cancerous.

“It wouldn’t be a good idea, shall we say,” Dr. David Brenner, the director of the Center for Radiological Research at Columbia University
Medical Center.

Ultraviolet radiation can also lower the body’s defenses and alter immune system functions, according to Dr. Justin Ko, a clinical associate
professor in dermatology at the Stanford University School of Medicine.

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coronavirus outbreak.

Because of the shortage of protective equipment, some medical centers have been using U.V. light to decontaminate masks for reuse. But
those germicidal lamps could be a health hazard if used on people.

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4/28/2020 Coronavirus Tips: Do Not Ingest or Inject Disinfectant - The New York Times

Some dermatologic conditions, like psoriasis or some lymphomas, can be treated with U.V. light. But for the most part, other diseases do
not respond in the same way.

“It’s just preposterous to think U.V. light would treat a respiratory illness,” Dr. Winslow said.

Harmful if swallowed
On the label of most disinfectants, there’s a version of this message: “Keep out of reach of children. Danger. Corrosive. Harmful if
swallowed.”

That warning is there for a reason. If used improperly, household disinfectants can kill you or cause irreversible damage.

At the Thursday briefing, Mr. Trump suggested his staff “check’’ the medical uses of such household disinfectants, asking “is there a way
we can do something like that by injection inside, or almost a cleaning?”

There is, in fact, no way to do something like that. At least not safely.

“Bleach, obviously, and other types of disinfectants, are made for surfaces,” Dr. Scott Schaeffer, the managing director of the Oklahoma
Center for Poison and Drug Information. “They are not made for the human body.”

Bleach is dangerous because it is corrosive: It can destroy human tissue. If injected, Dr. Schaeffer said he would “anticipate significant
burns.”

On Friday, Reckitt Benckiser, the United Kingdom-based maker of Lysol, warned customers against ingesting its products. “Under no
circumstance,” the company said, adding bold face to the three words, “should our disinfectant products be administered into the human
body (through injection, ingestion or any other route).” The statement did not refer to the president by name, but cited “recent speculation
and social media activity.”

“An accidental exposure is problematic enough,” said Dr. Carol DesLauriers, the assistant vice president of the Illinois Poison Center, the
oldest poison center in the country, speaking of household cleaners. “But you can really do damage to your skin, your stomach and your
lungs if you were to use these inappropriately.”

Covid-19 is “a virus that is harmful to your lungs,” continued Dr. DesLauriers, who is a board-certified toxicologist. “You don’t want to
make that worse by causing chemical irritation or injury to your lungs.”

Already, accidents with household cleaning products appear to have sharply increased in recent weeks, according to doctors who monitor
activity at poison call centers. On Monday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported an alarming trend of growing calls to
poison control centers, and an increase in accidental exposures to household cleaners and disinfectants. This rise does seem to be
attributed to the increased use of disinfectant products in the home as people try to adhere to the guidelines to prevent the spread of
coronavirus.

This would not be the first time that household cleaning products had endangered Americans. Two years ago, the infamous “Tide Pod
challenge” was a brief viral trend in which teenagers bit down on the brightly colored detergent packets, which endangered many.

Again, do not drink or ingest bleach. Disinfectants don’t kill only the virus. They may kill you, too. If you come across someone who has
ingested or injected household disinfectants, call the American Association of Poison Control Centers: (800) 222-1222. It’s free, and staffed
24 hours.

The Coronavirus Outbreak

Frequently Asked Questions and Advice

Updated April 11, 2020

• When will this end?

This is a difficult question, because a lot depends on how well the virus is
contained. A better question might be: “How will we know when to reopen the
country?” In an American Enterprise Institute report, Scott Gottlieb, Caitlin
Rivers, Mark B. McClellan, Lauren Silvis and Crystal Watson staked out four
goal posts for recovery: Hospitals in the state must be able to safely treat all
patients requiring hospitalization, without resorting to crisis standards of care;
the state needs to be able to at least test everyone who has symptoms; the
state is able to conduct monitoring of confirmed cases and contacts; and there
must be a sustained reduction in cases for at least 14 days.

READ MORE

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