On July 30, 2020, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced it approved amended labels for 13 products based on laboratory testing that shows the products are effective against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. These products, and two previously announced products (see our July 7, 2020, blog), are the only products for which EPA has reviewed laboratory testing data and approved label claims specifically against SARS-CoV-2. 

In January 2020, at the beginning of the SARS-CoV-2 public health emergency, EPA activated its Emerging Viral Pathogens guidance (Guidance).  EPA published this Guidance in August 2016, to set forth procedures for EPA to respond to the potential need for products to combat emerging viral pathogens that are not on EPA-registered disinfectant labels.  The Guidance allows product registrants to make limited off-label claims of their product’s efficacy against SARS-CoV-2, provided in part that there are efficacy data that have already been reviewed by EPA that demonstrate their products are effective against harder-to-kill viruses than SARS-CoV-2. 

Since activating its Guidance for the first time, EPA has reviewed amendments for already EPA-registered surface disinfectants on an expedited basis and developed a list -- List N -- of products that meet its criteria under the Guidance for use against SARS-CoV-2.  List N currently includes 469 products and is updated weekly.  In many cases, EPA states that it was able to approve claims in as little as 14 days.

The 13 products approved include 12 unique products from the manufacturer Lonza and one additional Lysol product from Reckitt Benckiser.  The 13 products approved are:

• Lonza Formulation S-21 (EPA Reg. No. 6836-75);
• Lonza Formulation S-18 (EPA Reg. No. 6836-77);
• Lonza Formulation R-82 (EPA Reg. No. 6836-78);
• Lonza Formulation S-18F (EPA Reg. No. 6836-136);
• Lonza Formulation R-82F (EPA Reg. No. 6836-139);
• Lonza Formulation S-21F (EPA Reg. No. 6836-140);
• Lonza Formulation DC-103 (EPA Reg. No. 6836-152);
• Lonzaguard RCS-256 (EPA Reg. No. 6836-346);
• Lonzaguard RCS-128 (EPA Reg. No. 6836-347);
• Lonzaguard RCS-128 PLUS (EPA Reg. No. 6836-348);
• Lonzaguard RCS-256 PLUS (EPA Reg. No. 6836-349);
• Lonzaguard R-82G (EPA Reg. No. 6836-381); and
• Lysol^® Disinfecting Wipes (All Scents) (EPA Reg. No. 777-114).

Additional information is available here.