Cleaning and disinfecting have been all over the news lately, yet it’s important to note that cleaning and disinfecting are distinctly different. As a recent column in the Washington Post asked: Do green cleaning products work as disinfectants?

Admittedly, green cleaning products are attractive to many who want to limit their exposure to certain household chemicals. While green cleaners may adequately clean surfaces through the physical process of removing dirt, they do not disinfect. That is, they do not kill germs. This is true whether we are talking about germs that can cause seasonal flu, H1N1 or food-borne illnesses, such as noroviruses and E. coli. Therefore, with regard to helping to prevent the spread of illness, green cleaners are simply not as effective as proven disinfectants, such as chlorine bleach.

In fact, only disinfectants registered by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have been tested in a scientifically-accepted, reproducible and validated method to demonstrate that they can kill disease-causing microorganisms that thrive on contaminated surfaces. The EPA assesses these rigorous efficiency tests on many of the kitchen cleaners that are sold in the United States. Only those that receive a passing grade can be marketed with a label containing the words "disinfectant" or "sanitizer.” Currently, none of the big green cleaning companies have provided EPA with scientifically-acceptable testing results sufficient to obtain an EPA disinfectant registration.

Recent studies have shown that disinfection is necessary to reduce norovirus infections on cruise ships, and that poor cleaning of restrooms raises the risk of gastrointestinal illness outbreaks caused by noroviruses (Nov. 1 issue of the journal, Clinical Infectious Diseases). More work is focusing on disinfecting schools and public health protection.

So what does this mean for you and your family? The Post is right to point out that, “there's no need to go overboard and douse every surface in your home [with a disinfectant].” However, by cutting back and using less disinfectant, as the Post suggests, you can increase your family’s health risk. To help keep your home healthy, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests that you:

clean and disinfect kitchen counters and other surfaces before, during, and after preparing food, and routinely disinfect all bathroom surfaces.

Disinfectants, when used properly and wisely, will help keep your family safe and healthy.

(Joan Rose, PhD is the Homer Nowlin Chair in Water Research at Michigan State University and a member of the Water Quality and Health Council)

To receive the publication via e-mail, please click here and enter your e-mail address to join our mailing list.