Trump shares CDC guidance warning against improper use of household cleaners

President Trump on Saturday shared a tweet from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that warned against the improper use of household cleaners and disinfectants.

The CDC had tweeted the warning on Friday afternoon amid blowback from doctors and other health experts after the president suggested exposing the body to heat and injecting disinfectants as a potential remedies for the coronavirus. The president later claimed he was being sarcastic.

“Household cleaners and disinfectants can cause health problems when not used properly,” the CDC wrote, including a link to the agency’s general guidelines for using cleaning and sanitizing products. “Follow the instructions on the product label to ensure safe and effective use.”

Household cleaners and disinfectants can cause health problems when not used properly. Follow the instructions on the product label to ensure safe and effective use. Learn more about cleaning and disinfecting your home: https://t.co/PW0UbW8KeE. pic.twitter.com/rdcR9QJNIR

— CDC (@CDCgov) April 24, 2020

The tweet was among more than a dozen from the CDC and other administration health accounts offering information on the coronavirus crisis that Trump retweeted Saturday morning.

At a White House briefing Thursday, Trump asked coronavirus task force coordinator Deborah Birx about injecting coronavirus patients with disinfectant and exposing them to ultraviolet light. She explained to him during the briefing that she had never heard of such a regimen being used to treat COVID-19 or any virus.

“And then I see the disinfectant, where it 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?” Trump said. “Because you see it gets in the lungs, and it does a tremendous number on the lungs. So it would be interesting to check that. So you’re going to have to use medical doctors with — but it sounds interesting to me.”

The Maryland Emergency Management Agency said Friday it had received “several calls regarding questions about disinfectant use and #COVID19.”

“This is a reminder that under no circumstances should any disinfectant product be administered into the body through injection, ingestion or any other route,” the agency tweeted.

ALERT: We have received several calls regarding questions about disinfectant use and #COVID19.

This is a reminder that under no circumstances should any disinfectant product be administered into the body through injection, ingestion or any other route.

— Maryland Emergency Management Agency (MDMEMA) (@MDMEMA) April 24, 2020

“I think we need to speak very clearly that there’s no circumstance under which you should take a disinfectant or inject a disinfectant for the treatment of anything, and certainly not for the treatment of coronavirus,” Scott Gottlieb, Trump’s former Food and Drug Administration commissioner, also said on CNBC when asked about the president’s comments.

“There’s absolutely no circumstance under which that’s appropriate, and it can cause death and very adverse outcomes,” he added.

Reckitt Benckiser, the company that produces Lysol, also issued a statement warning against the ingestion of their products.

Trump walked back his suggestion on Friday, claiming he was being sarcastic.

“I was asking a question sarcastically to reporters like you just to see what would happen,” Trump told reporters at an Oval Office bill signing.