Last Thursday, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced their intent to settle with Allied BioScience, Inc. following allegations regarding Allied BioScience’s product SurfaceWise2.
SurfaceWise2 is a surface cleaning product intended to kill any traces of the SARS-CoV-2 virus on surfaces for up to seven days, the release says. The product was initially approved for emergency use during the pandemic in certain sites in Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Texas. Further testing and investigations conducted by the EPA revealed that the product was being produced and marketed outside of EPA regulations.
The EPA alleged that Allied BioScience had violated federal pesticide regulations through the product; the item violated the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, EPA regulations, and the terms and conditions of the EPA’s emergency exemption authorizations, per the release.
Dr. Earthea Nance, a regional administrator at the EPA, stressed the importance of holding companies accountable for violating requirements in the pandemic, “especially pesticides that claim to fight viruses.”
When the new information came to light, the EPA issued a Stop Sale, Use or Removal Order (SSURO) to Allied BioScience. The SSURO stopped all sales of the product and stripped away the emergency use authorizations that the product previously held, all due to “scientific concerns regarding product performance.” Specifically, the product failed to perform as strongly under real-world conditions (when it was exposed to moisture or abrasion).
Allied BioScience has agreed to settle with the EPA and pay a penalty of $253,032. The EPA notes that since the risk of contracting the SARS-CoV-2 virus from a surface is relatively low, “removing [the product] from the market does not endanger human health or limit the fight against the virus.”
