Poison Center: Don't drink bleach to prevent coronavirus
Bottles of Clorox bleach sit on a shelf at a grocery store on February 11, 2011 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
NEW YORK - This really shouldn't be something that people need to be told, but apparently some need a reminder: drinking bleach will not prevent you from getting the coronavirus.
The Blue Ridge Poison Center in Virginia warns the public that bleach is for cleaning, not drinking, and could cause serious harm.
In a letter, the University of Virginia related center said: "There is a lot of confusing, incomplete, and just plain inaccurate information circulating about how to prevent the COVID-19 virus (“coronavirus”) from spreading. Some advice measures simply won’t help, and some could be downright dangerous. The Blue Ridge Poison Center at UVA Health warns that drinking bleach will not prevent COVID-19 infections and could cause serious injury."
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The center goes on to say that cleaning products like bleach can cause burns when swallowed or when sprayed or splashed onto the skin or into the eyes.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends diluting bleach (five tablespoons of bleach per gallon of water) when using it to clean and disinfect frequently touched surfaces.
When used correctly, bleach can be very effective on surfaces against the spread of the coronavirus, the CDC said.
With some people are reportedly drinking bleach products in the hopes that it would cure them of a myriad of diseases, including autism, cancer, hepatitis and HIV/AIDS, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a warning last year that doing so is not only dangerous but potentially life-threatening.