On June 10, 2020, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued orders to eBay and Amazon directing them to immediately stop the sale or distribution of over 30 different types of pesticide products that are unregistered, misbranded, or classified for restricted-use.
Included in the orders were several products allegedly marketed with false or misleading claims of efficacy against the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, the cause of COVID-19.
The agency said, “As two of the largest e-commerce marketplaces, both companies oversee millions of product listings, thru either direct or third-party sales.”
The agency said it had discussed its concerns with eBay, Amazon, and other online marketplaces in April, but, “despite those discussions, Amazon and eBay have thus far failed to consistently keep unregistered, misbranded, or restricted-use pesticides, and pesticide devices off their websites,” it said in a press release issued today.
The EPA also took issue with the labeling of certain products that it said included the following violative statements:
“Kills COVID-19”
“Complete sterilization including the current pandemic virus”
“Coronavirus disinfectant”
“2020 Coronavirus Protection Coronavirus Protection Clearance Sale”
“A Powerful, Green, Non-Toxic Solution Proven to Inactivate our current viral strain”
“Epidemic Prevention”
“Efficient disinfection to prevent the spread of disease”
“Help keep your family and those you care for healthy”
“Nontoxic causes no permanent injuries”
“Ingredients are biodegradable and have no harmful impact on the environment”
“There is no damage to the environment”
“You can easily purify the living environment”
“Safe for all people using”
“Gentle to Child & Pets”
“Chemical Free”
The EPA pointed to examples of the products it said it found on the marketplaces: in the case of Amazon, a product containing Chlorine Dioxide that are allegedly being sold with unprovable claims of sanitizing and disinfecting hospitals, offices and homes; and in the case of eBay, 55-gallon drums of Methylene Chloride that were marketed for use as a coronavirus disinfectant and paint stripper. “Not only is Methylene Chloride unapproved for use against the novel coronavirus, under the Toxic Substances Control Act, EPA banned the retail sale of Methylene Chloride to consumers for paint removal purposes due to acute fatalities that resulted from exposure to the chemical,” it stated.
The agency’s press release and more information are found on the EPA.gov website.
Who are the IDIOTS who keep buying these false claim products? There will always be scammers as long as there are fools with money. PARANOID, DELUSIONAL FOOLS!
the dumbing down on display…morons
And newbies keep coming on the Amazon forum asking how they can sell their face masks and disinfectant, etc. They will do anything for money!
Not sure how the EPA finds some of those statements violative.
Gentle to Child & Pets ????
Probably because they’re also gentle on viruses. LOL
Why would EPA control what the sellers on Ebay sell? That’s absolutely stupid. These are all private businesses and Ebay shouldn’t have any say in what they sell, unless it’s illegal.
Even then it’s the same situation as it is with the social media: are they publishers, responsible for their content or open squares that simply grant access to their website and show unfiltered opinions?
In this case I’m for Ebay and Amazon to ignore EPA. O don’t sell any of these products, nor would I want to but it’s up to the buyer to educate themselves. Also a lot of the products sold on Ebay and Amazon are absolutely successful in removing the virus or “killing it”, the fact that EPA doesn’t approve of it has nothing to do with the reality.