Reckitt products

  • Reckitt Benckiser clarified that “under no circumstance should our disinfectant products be administered into the human body”

  • Dettol, Cillit Bang, Toilet Duck and Zoflora were trending on Twitter in the UK today

 

Cleaning product brands have warned against people injecting disinfectants after US President Donald Trump suggested doing so could kill coronavirus in carriers.

Speaking after a presentation yesterday on the survival time of the virus on surfaces by US Department of Homeland Security’s science and technology division chief Bill Bryan, Trump said: “I see the disinfectant that knocks it out in a minute, one minute. And is there a way we can do something like that by injection inside or almost a cleaning? As you see, it gets in the lungs, it does a tremendous number on the lungs, so it would be interesting to check that.”

Reckitt Benckiser, which makes Dettol and Lysol, today issued a statement clarifying that “under no circumstance should our disinfectant products be administered into the human body (through injection, ingestion or any other route)”.

The company didn’t call out Trump by name, saying its statement was due to “recent speculation and social media activity”. The company said it had been asked “whether internal administration of disinfectants may be appropriate for investigation or use as a treatment for coronavirus”.

The statement pointed people to a coronavirus myth-busting website.

“We have a responsibility in providing consumers with access to accurate, up-to-date information as advised by leading public health experts,” Reckitt Benckiser said.

Dettol, Cillit Bang, Toilet Duck and Zoflora were trending on Twitter in the UK today.

In a tweet this morning, Zoflora said: “While it’s nice to be trending on Twitter, we would like to remind you all that Zoflora is NOT for human consumption in any way, despite what certain world leaders may be suggesting”.

After hearing in the presentation that the virus also has a short life under direct sunlight, Trump also questioned whether light could be brought “inside the body, which you can do either through the skin or some other way”.

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