Reckitt Benckiser, the company that makes Lysol, said none of its products should be injected or ingested as a potential treatment for the coronavirus. This statement follows a press briefing Thursday in which President Donald Trump appeared to promote UV light and disinfectants as a way to combat COVID-19.
“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),” the company said in a statement.
RB, without specifically mentioning Trump or the press briefing, said it felt compelled to put out a statement because of “recent speculation and social media activity … whether internal administration of disinfectants may be appropriate for investigation or use as a treatment for coronavirus.”
“Then I see the disinfectant where it knocks it out in a minute, one minute,” Trump said during Thursday’s White House Coronavirus Task Force briefing. “And is there a way we can do something like that, by injection inside or almost a cleaning because you see it gets in the lungs and it does a tremendous number on the lungs so it would be interesting to check that.”
His comments came after a Department of Homeland Security official said research found that ultraviolet rays and disinfectants like bleach and isopropyl alcohol work well against the virus.
