EPA continues to maintain “List N”

When the EPA initially added disinfectants to List N, they didn’t have confirmed science showing that they would all work against SARS-CoV-2. But they made some reasoned guidelines based on effectiveness against harder-to-kill pathogens. In recent months, the EPA has done many updates to the reason that a given disinfectant is on the list. Often these updates change “Kills a harder-to-kill pathogen than SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19)” to “Tested against SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19).” Likewise, the guidance on what instructions to follow have been updated, for example inviting users to directly follow Sars-CoV-2-specific instructions, instead of following the published instructions for some other pathogen. Of the 561 pesticides currently on the list, 170 have been directly tested against SARS-CoV-2. An additional 89 are marked as: Kills a human coronavirus similar SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) We’ll expect to see more COVID-specific instructions over time.