FEAR MONGERING DURING A PANDEMIC
Rosanne Benoit
Fear mongering is rampant! COVID 19 is bringing out the worst in people and it is bringing out greed as well. Please beware of products claiming to do what no other products do when it comes to managing pathogens, especially COVID -19. We have been receiving call after call, from customers and non-customers alike, asking for guidance and clarification on whether to trust that “this” product is actually better than “that” product with regards to disinfecting and protecting against COVID 19. You can pay hundreds of dollars per gallon for a product to kill COVID 19 or you can pay significantly less for an EPA registered product that is listed on the EPA site as effective against COVID 19. Will one do better than the other just because it costs more? No. Are there differences between the products? In many cases yes…but these differences are most often concentration, pH, fragrance, color and other specifications not having to do with whether it kills COVID or not. Whenever there is a crisis and fear abounds there always seems to be someone trying to profit from it. Take instant hand sanitizers…we have companies manufacturing using toxic ingredients in order to increase profit margins and take advantage of the worldwide shortage.
When it comes to disinfecting science still tells us that this virus is in a class that is among the easiest to kill on surfaces. You just have to do the job of properly disinfecting your surfaces, paying special attention to your HIGH TOUCH surfaces. High touch surfaces are those surfaces that we touch many times throughout the day. Light switches, door knobs, push plates, water fountains, faucet handles, flush handles, microwave buttons and doors, refrigerator handles, computer keys and so on. How do we properly disinfect? Pre-clean area with mild detergent if surfaces are visibly dirty. Bugs can hide in soil and by removing the soil you are removing the pathogens as well. Then, if using a concentrated disinfectant, dilute it properly. Apply solution to surfaces so that the surface remains wet for the required dwell time, most often 10 minutes. The dwell time gives the product enough time to achieve the 99.9% kill rate. Some classes of bacteria and viruses are killed much faster than others. Allowing for the dwell time listed on the label means you are killing all the listed pathogens. These are the same directions you should follow any time you use a disinfectant, not just in the middle of a pandemic.
Customer or not…please feel free to call us with any questions or concerns As we have heard over and over again…we are in this together!
We WILL defeat you!