Founded in 1989, Green Seal is the nation’s premier ecolabel, symbolizing transparency, integrity and proven environmental leadership. It has certified thousands of products and services in over 450 categories, and is specified by countless schools, government agencies, businesses and institutions.
by Nina Hwang, MPH of Green Seal
Are you concerned about properly disinfecting for coronavirus while also wondering if there are less hazardous options available? Green Seal has created a primer on how to safely clean and disinfect your space, including a curated list of safer disinfectants for COVID-19.
CLEAN, THEN DISINFECT
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one critical step for preventing illness includes both cleaning and disinfecting the spaces where you spend your time.
Green Seal recommends the following procedure to effectively clean and disinfect surfaces:
- Clean the surface with a detergent or general-purpose cleaner. Cleaning is an important first step to the process because it physically removes soil, organic matter, and many germs from the surface.
- Rinse the surface with clean water.
- Disinfection should always take place last, to ensure that any germs leftover after cleaning are destroyed. Disinfectants* are not as effective when applied directly to dirty surfaces, because germs and viruses can hide under soils.
- It is important to follow the label use directions for enveloped viruses, which is the category that COVID-19 falls under. Disinfectants can have up to a 10-minute contact time, which means that the disinfectant needs to be left wet on the surface for 10 minutes in order to kill the targeted types of germs. If the directions for use for viruses/virucidal activity list different contact times or dilutions, use the longest contact time or most concentrated solution.
Green Seal has many certified general-purpose cleaners to choose from and the full list of products can be found here. Also, here is Green Seal’s COVID-19 Resource Page.
SAFER OPTIONS
Disinfectants are designed to kill germs, and therefore none can be completely harmless. Because of this, the US EPA does not allow manufacturers to label disinfectants with third-party certifications, such as Green Seal. However, there are safer options out there.
US EPA has released a list of recommended disinfectants for use against COVID-19. When considering EPA’s list, Green Seal recommends choosing products with the following active ingredients, as these chemicals are known to be less hazardous to human health and do not trigger allergic reactions, or asthma:
- hydrogen peroxide
- citric acid
- lactic acid
- ethyl alcohol (also called ethanol or just alcohol), or
- isopropyl alcohol
On EPA’s list of recommended disinfectants, the agency includes several products with these active ingredients, including:
- EnvirOx Critical Care (Registered under the name Axen(R) 30) (EPA Registration No. 72977-3) (3-minute contact time)
- Clorox Commercial Solutions Hydrogen Peroxide Disinfecting Cleaner and Clorox Healthcare Hydrogen Peroxide Cleaner Disinfectant (EPA Registration No. 67619-24) (1-minute contact time)
- Diversey’s Oxivir Wipes (EPA Registration No. 70627-60) (1-minute contact time)
- GOJO Industries PURELL Multi-Surface Disinfecting Cleaner, PURELL Multi Surface Disinfectant and PURELL Professional Surface Disinfectant (registered under the name URTHPro) (EPA Registration No. 84368-1) (1-minute contact time)
- Ecolab’s Peroxide Multi Surface Cleaner and Disinfectant (EPA Registration No. 1677-238) (2-minute contact time)
- Ecolab’s Peroxide Disinfectant and Glass Cleaner RTU (EPA Registration No. 1677-251) (.75 minute contact time)
- Clorox Pet Solutions Advanced Formula Disinfecting Stain & Odor Remover (EPA Registration No. 5813-110) (5-minute contact time)
- Clorox Commercial Solutions® Hydrogen Peroxide Cleaner Disinfectant Wipes and Clorox Healthcare Hydrogen Peroxide Cleaner Disinfectant Wipes (EPA Registration No. 67619-25) (2-minute contact time)
- Diversey’s Oxivir TB Ready-to-Use Liquid (EPA Registration No. 70627-56) (1-minute contact time) (1-minute contact time)
- Diversey’s Oxivir Five 16 (registered under the name Oxy-Team Disinfectant) (EPA Registration No. 70627-58) (5-minute contact time)
- Diversey’s Alpha HP Multi-Surface Disinfectant Cleaner (registered under the name Phato 1:64 Disinfectant Cleaner) (EPA Registration No. 70627-62) (5-minute contact time)
- Lysol Disinfecting Bathroom Cleaner (EPA Registration No. 675-55) (5-minute contact time)
- GOJO Industries PURELL Professional Surface Disinfecting Wipes (EPA Registration No. 84150-1) (5-minute contact time)
SEARCHING EPA’S LIST
If you already have a product in mind, you can refer to EPA’s website to confirm whether it is approved for use against COVID-19 and to find the product’s specific use instructions. Instead of searching by product name or manufacturer, search by the EPA registration number. Enter only the first 2 sections of the Registration Number — for example, for EPA Reg. No. 12345-12-2567, search only for 12345-12.
The third section (2567) is only used to distinguish between different product distributors, who sell the products under different names and brands but don’t change the formula at all.
The CDC and the EPA remain the best source of information for preventing coronavirus. Once the coronavirus threat has passed, this Infection Control Guide from our Healthy Green Schools & Colleges program is an additional resource to help you plan for infection outbreaks in general.
*Some products are a combination of a cleaner and a disinfectant. As always, read the label carefully and follow directions.