EPA tells Bensenville pesticide company to stop COVID-19 claims
The Environmental Protection Agency has told a Bensenville company to stop selling pesticides the company claims can fight the virus that causes COVID-19 illness.
The "stop sale" order was announced Thursday against PureLine Treatment Systems LLC.
It says the materials in question are misbranded and can't be sold until "false or misleading claims" regarding their effectiveness against SARS-CoV-2 are taken off the labels and sales materials.
The products are PureVista, Pure 3000 and Purecide E/Technical Sodium Chlorite.
The antiviral claims "substantially differ" from the legally allowable claims that can be made per the pesticide registrations for those products, according to the EPA.
"PureLine received the stop order and realized a mistake in how we interpreted our EPA registration. Under the direction of better information and EPA's effort we have corrected our claims," company spokesman Alex Whitmore said Thursday.
Products that claim to kill, destroy, prevent or repel bacteria or viruses on surfaces are considered pesticides under federal law, and have to be registered with the EPA. Public health claims can only be made with EPA approval, according to the EPA's news release.
An archived webpage for the company stated "COVID-19, best known as Coronavirus, has quickly spread across the world and temporarily altered how we live and do business. To help you and your business fight the spread of this virus in your buildings and facilities, PureLine recommends Chlorine Dioxide (ClO2) Gassing Solution to treat and decontaminate Coronavirus." The company's current website said Thursday it was "undergoing maintenance."
PureLine markets its products to schools, residences, athletic facilities, health care facilities and other entities.
The EPA says PureLine's website said the products could be used to sterilize a facility, are safe and not poisonous. But the labels for the products include the language "poison," "harmful if swallowed, absorbed through the skin, or inhaled," or "causes irreversible eye damage and skin burns."
The EPA also says PureLine is selling a product called N95 Mask Decon System, to use with Pure Vista, to sterilize N95 masks, and that it said the process has been approved by the EPA and other federal agencies. An archived May 4 webpage from the company's site said the product had been submitted to the Food and Drug Administration.
Pure Vista is not registered as a sterilant.