COVID-19 cases continue to increase across the United States and throughout the world. Prevention of this novel virus includes proper cleaning and disinfection of high-touch surfaces to help mitigate transmission. This has resulted increase in the use chemicals or antimicrobials to eliminate the virus on surfaces. With this increased use, the number of chemical exposures has increased. During January –March 2020, poison centers received several thousand more exposure calls related to cleaners and disinfectants compared to the same time in 2019 and 2018. And as more and more people stayed at home beginning in early March, the daily number of calls to poison centers increased sharply. The acute and chronic health effects of this increased use of disinfectants is important to consider. This webinar will discuss overall trends in increased chemical exposures in the home and workplace, review the health effects and present best practices to minimize exposures.

This webinar is supported by a cooperative agreement between the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Michigan State University (MSU) along with Migrant Clinicians Network and the National Pesticide Safety Education Center.