From: Pamela Burn <pamelaburnfamily**At_Symbol_Here**GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] FIFRA and disinfectants
Date: Tue, 26 Oct 2021 07:07:35 -0500
Reply-To: ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**Princeton.EDU>
Message-ID: CABudqRGTXPMcSPJEEuY1JSY882Bc_QhjrWKErGzEs8b8tprdxQ**At_Symbol_Here**mail.gmail.com
In-Reply-To <40610A60-6BAE-4E4D-8B01-4624EFC01638**At_Symbol_Here**smith.edu>


I've always taken the approach of training employees on how to find an EPA - registered disinfectant for the pathogens they are using in the lab



On Tue, Oct 26, 2021, 5:20 AM Margaret Rakas <mrakas**At_Symbol_Here**smith.edu> wrote:
EPA oversees the regulation known as FIFRA, the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act. In addition to those items named in the regulation, herb-and pest-icides, anti-mildew agents, and disinfectants fall under its purview, as they reduce or eliminate pests (and pathogens are considered =E2=80=98pests'). In order to have the EPA ID #, a company must provide test data to the EPA showing the disinfectant=E2=80™s efficacy against whatever agent(s) they claim it kills. There may be safety studies as well-I don't have experience with that side of it-but if you look at a container of say, Lysol wipes, you will see the EPA registration number and the biological agents for which they have shown efficacy. EPA takes legal action against a seller of a FIFRA-regulated item that is not registered. (Which is why generic bleach generally doesn't claim to be a disinfectant).

Will non-EPA registered bleach perform similarly to Clorox? Probably, but again, there is no efficacy testing. Will your Biosafety Officer or Institutional Biosafety Committee accept a non-EPA registered disinfectant? In my experience, IBCs and BSOs require all disinfectants to be EPA-registered.

Margaret





Sent from my iPad

---
For more information about the DCHAS-L e-mail list, contact the Divisional membership chair at membership**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org
Follow us on Twitter **At_Symbol_Here**acsdchas
--- For more information about the DCHAS-L e-mail list, contact the Divisional membership chair at membership**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org Follow us on Twitter **At_Symbol_Here**acsdchas

Previous post   |  Top of Page   |   Next post



The content of this page reflects the personal opinion(s) of the author(s) only, not the American Chemical Society, ILPI, Safety Emporium, or any other party. Use of any information on this page is at the reader's own risk. Unauthorized reproduction of these materials is prohibited. Send questions/comments about the archive to secretary@dchas.org.
The maintenance and hosting of the DCHAS-L archive is provided through the generous support of Safety Emporium.