A manufacturer of household cleaning products has warned people against ingesting its disinfectant after Donald Trump suggested injecting it into the body could cure coronavirus.
Reckitt Benckiser, a British firm that owns the bleach brands Lysol and Dettol, released a statement on Friday to address “recent speculation and social media activity.”
“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.
It added: “As with all products, our disinfectant and hygiene products should only be used as intended and in line with usage guidelines.”
It came after a press conference on Thursday in which Mr Trump repeatedly suggested injecting disinfectant into the body as a treatment for Covid-19.
“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,” the president said during his daily Covid-19 briefing.
Mr Trump’s comments prompted anger and incredulity among the medical community.
Dr Eugene Gu, a politically active physician, tweeted bluntly: “Injecting disinfectant into your body will kill you."
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warns the public against drinking bleach or inhaling its fumes.
Dr Stephen Hahn, the FDA commissioner, told CNN that he “certainly wouldn’t recommend the internal ingestion of a disinfectant.”
