SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) – Officials are warning people that it is dangerous to swallow or inject disinfectants, a day after President Donald Trump suggested the idea that ingesting disinfectants into the human body could kill the coronavirus.
Dr. Esther Choo, an emergency-room doctor at Oregon Health & Science University, told MSNBC, “The idea that is introducing something that is a known toxin into the body, isopropyl alcohol, disinfectants — those are things that we always worry that kids swallow accidentally, or that people who are intentionally trying to hurt themselves will swallow accidentally.”
“We know the answer to this one,” Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN’s chief medical correspondent, told the network’s Anderson Cooper, adding that the idea was not even worth testing because the dangers of disinfectants on the human body were already known.
Dr. Vin Gupta, a pulmonologist and MSNBC commentator, told NBC News: “This notion of injecting or ingesting any type of cleansing product into the body is irresponsible and it’s dangerous.”
“It’s a common method that people utilize when they want to kill themselves.”
On Twitter, Judy Melinek, a doctor and forensic pathologist — whose job is to examine people’s cause of death — said simply: “Oh FFS please don’t do this. I don’t need the extra work.”
Lysol also warned on Friday that its cleaning products were not meant to be swallowed or injected.
The Reckitt Benckiser Group, manufacturer of Lysol, said on its website that “under no circumstance” should disinfectant be administered into the human body.
The Environmental Protection Agency also cautioned against drinking disinfectant, saying in a statement, “Never apply the product to yourself or others. Do not ingest disinfectant products.”
Local Bay Area officials like Sen. Kamala Harris also took to social media to remind the public not to ingest disinfectants.
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