Trump suggested injecting disinfectant for coronavirus. Here’s why that’s a bad idea
During a White House coronavirus task force press briefing Thursday, President Donald Trump appeared to suggest injecting disinfectant could help treat COVID-19. But doctors, scientists and the companies that make disinfectants were quick to say people should definitely not inject themselves with bleach or other disinfectants.
Trump brought up the idea after a presentation from the Department of Homeland Security’s Bill Bryan about how effective disinfectants and isopropyl alcohol are at cleaning the virus from surfaces.
The president 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, the British company that makes Lysol, said Friday morning, “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).”
“As with all products, our disinfectant and hygiene products should only be used as intended and in line with usage guidelines,” the company said.
Trump’s comments caught attention online, with “disinfectant” and “Lysol” the top two trends on Twitter Friday morning.
What happens if you inject disinfectant?
Lots of really bad things can happen to the human body if you inject bleach or other disinfectants.
Injecting bleach can cause acute kidney damage for one, according to the Journal of Medical Toxicology. It can also cause blood clots, according to research published in Human & Experimental Toxicology.
A paper published in Clinical Toxicology detailed what happened when a teenager intentionally drank bleach.
“She experienced chest pain and fever after several vomiting episodes,” the study said. She was in the hospital for 12 weeks. The teen ended up in intensive care and doctors had to repair her esophagus and give her a colon transplant.
The study did acknowledge that the case of the 16-year-old was much worse than most cases of bleach poisoning: “Poisoning due to ingestion of sodium hypochlorite bleach usually follows a benign clinical course. Few studies report severe complications.”
A 2019 review in the medical journal Clinical Toxicology found: “Accidental ingestion of household bleach is not normally of clinical significance. However, those who ingest a large amount of a dilute formulation or a high concentration preparation can develop severe, and rarely fatal, corrosive injury so prompt supportive care is essential as there is no specific antidote.”
This story was originally published April 24, 2020 at 7:55 AM with the headline "Trump suggested injecting disinfectant for coronavirus. Here’s why that’s a bad idea."
