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U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Inspector General
At a Glance
15-P-0064
January 21, 2015
Why We Did This Review
This is a quick reaction report
that addresses the
completeness and consistency
of information provided on the
U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency's (EPA) website
regarding disinfectants for use
against the Ebola virus.
The EPA's Web page
http://www.epa.gov/oppad001/lis
t-l-ebola-virus.html, titled
Disinfectants for Use Against
the Ebola Virus, contains a list
of registered disinfectants that
meet the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC)
criteria for hospital disinfectants.
This list is also known as List L.
Disinfectants like those on
List L are regulated and
registered by the EPA. During
the registration process, the
EPA reviews data submitted by
manufacturers to verify that
products with a public health
claim are effective. The EPA
also has its own testing
program— the Antimicrobial
Testing Program (ATP)—which
tests the effectiveness of
products after they are
registered.
This report addresses the
following EPA goal or
cross-agency strategy:
• Ensuring the safety of
chemicals and preventing
pollution.
Send all inquiries to our public
affairs office at (202) 566-2391
or visit www.epa.gov/oiq.
The full report is at:
www.epa.aov/oia/reports/2015/
20150121-15-P-0064.pdf
Quick Reaction Report: Complete and Clear
Information on the Effectiveness of Ebola
Disinfectants Will Better Inform the Public
What We Found
As of December 2014, the EPA's List L Web page
included 192 disinfectants that meet CDC criteria
for use against the Ebola virus. The EPA's List L
Web page contains the name of the disinfectant
product (e.g., Clorox®), and whether the product
can be used in hospital and health care settings,
offices, schools and residential settings. Of the 192
products listed, 29 recently registered products (registered since 2010) have not
been tested for effectiveness by the ATP. This status is not disclosed on the List
L Web page.
In addition, we identified eight products on List L that are not listed on the ATP
Web page http://www.epa.qov/oppad001/antimicrobial-testinq-proqram.html.
According to the EPA, three of the eight products were recently registered and
had not been posted to the ATP Web page. The other five products had been
tested by the ATP; however, their testing status was missing from the ATP page.
A 2010 report by the EPA Office of Inspector General found that many
antimicrobial products, such as disinfectants, scheduled to be tested by the
EPA's ATP were not tested. Of those that were tested for effectiveness, the
failure rate was high. The EPA has now tested more products. According to the
EPA, the lack of ATP testing on recently registered products does not pose any
risk to the public due to enhanced manufacturer testing requirements for recently
registered products. However, the testing results designed to demonstrate
whether products work as claimed by manufacturers are not being
communicated clearly.
Recommendations and Agency Corrective Actions
We recommended that the Assistant Administrator for Chemical Safety and
Pollution Prevention modify the List L Web page information to indicate the
status of the EPA's ATP testing on all products listed. We also recommended
that the EPA ensure that all List L products are included on the ATP list, and
product testing status is clearly reported.
The agency agreed with our recommendations and has completed actions to
address them. Both recommendations are closed.
The EPA's Web pages
should have ongoing,
clear information about
the effectiveness of
disinfectants for use
against the Ebola virus.

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