COVID-19

Novel Coronavirus  (COVID-19)

What type of virus is COVID-19?

Viruses can be generally categorized in three groups by virus structure. This affects the effectiveness of disinfectants in killing the viruses.

 

    Enveloped viruses are easiest to kill. (An example is Influenza A Virus.)

 

    Large, non-enveloped viruses are more difficult to kill. (An example is Rotavirus.)

 

    Small, non-enveloped viruses are hardest to kill.(Examples are Rhinovirus and Norovirus.)

 

    Coronaviruses are enveloped viruses, meaning they are one of the easiest types of viruses to kill with the appropriate disinfectant product.

 

 

 

How do we know a virus is harder or easier to kill?

Viruses can be separated into classes based on structure, for example in simplest form; enveloped (e.g.COVID-19) and non-enveloped (e.g.Norovirus). Years of research and testing have shown that enveloped viruses are easier to kill using disinfectants than non-enveloped viruses and so a hierarchy has been developed.

 

How can a company claim that a specific product should be used effectively during the COVID-19 outbreak?

During an outbreak of a new virus like COVID-19, no products exist on the market that can make claims to kill the virus. This is due to the simple fact that the virus was not available to test, and it can take more than 1year to get a viral claim approved by a regulatory agency. For this reason, the U.S.enacted a 'hierarchy-based' policy. This means that if a company's product has been found to be effective against harder to kill viruses, it is likely to kill a virus like COVID-19.

 

A product that is likely to provide the greatest protection to you from COVID-19 will have claims againstat least one non-enveloped virus such as Norovirus, Feline Calicivirus, Poliovirus, Rhinovirus or Reovirus.

 

What about a claim against Human Coronavirus? Won't that be enough for a product to be Effective Against COVID-19?

Claims against Human Coronavirus do not meet the criteria for hierarchy guidance (see above) as there are no data to prove COVID-19 has the same tolerance to disinfectants as typical Human Coronaviruses tested for efficacy. The hierarchy approach is protective of public health by ensuring an extra layer of efficacy until research can be initiated. This was the same approach used for Ebola.

How do I know that a US company's claim is legitimate?

Any company marketing hard-surface disinfectant products in the US for use during the COVID-19 outbreak MUST have an EPA-approved Emerging Pathogen Claim. This claim cannot be found on the commercial label as it is only triggered during an outbreak. However it can be found on the master label on EPA's website https://iaspub.epa.gov/apex/pesticides/f?p=PPLS:1.

 

 

The Center for Biocide Chemistries is helping federal, state, and local health agencies -- as well as the general public -- fight back against the spread of the 2019 novel coronavirus, COVID-19. Declared by the World Health Organization as a 'public health emergency of international concern,' the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) is aggressively working to detect and contain the virus to minimize risk to U.S. citizens. CBC is playing an important role in this effort by providing a list of over 100 ready-to-use, dilutable, and wipable biocidal products that are approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as effective at killing viruses like COVID-19.

 

 

 

What requirements are necessary in order to have my companies product listed on the CBC Coronavirus-Fighting Products List?

Per the US Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Emerging Viral Pathogen Guidance for Antimicrobial Pesticides, the following criteria determine if an EPA-registered disinfectant product is eligible to make a claim against COVID-19:

-- The product is an EPA-registered, hospital/healthcare or broad-spectrum disinfectant with directions for use on hard, porous or non-porous surfaces.

--The currently accepted product label (from an EPA registered product as described above) should have disinfectant efficacy claims against the following viral pathogen groupings: one large orone small non-enveloped virus.

 

CBC has not listed any product without first reviewing the product's Master Label, which indicates EPA's prior approval of the emerging pathogens qualification.

 

 

 

Click this link to see CBC's entire list: https://www.americanchemistry.com/Novel-Coronavirus-Fighting-Products-List.pdf

 

 

Pharmacal Research Labs., Inc. has the following products listed on the The American Chemistry Council's (ACC) Center for Biocide Chemistries (CBC) list of products that have been pre-approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for use against emerging enveloped viral pathogens and can be used during the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.

 

 

The below products have demonstrated effectiveness against viruses similar to 2019 novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) on hard non-porous surfaces.

 

Please click on the links below to view directions-for-use for each product.