A couple of years ago we published a warning from a chemical scientist about the penchant the U.S. and other countries had developed for disinfectant wipes.  The obsession to routinely wipe every surface clean with the wipes stemmed from the COVID pandemic. But the catch was (and scientists knew this at the time) those wipes did nothing to protect people from COVID.  But what those disinfectant wipes were doing was exposing millions and millions of people to a dangerous chemical group – quaternary ammonium compounds, also known as QACs, or “quats”.  Quats are common components in popular disinfectant wipes and sprays, especially those that claim to “kill 99.9% of germs”.

Researchers conducted an extensive scientific review of the fast-growing body of quat studies that point to several main issues: the chemicals are linked to serious health problems, they contribute to antimicrobial resistance, they pollute the environment and they are not particularly effective.  The scientific team was made up of researchers from academia, government agencies and non-governmental organizations and their findings highlight quats’ risks and calls on regulators to eliminate the chemicals for non-essential uses.

QACs are a class of hundreds of chemicals also used in paints, pesticides, hand sanitizers, personal care products and more. Among other health issues, recent research has linked them to metabolic disruption, asthma, infertility, birth defects, skin disorders and other diseases.

Disinfectant Wipes Expose People to Dangerous Chemicals: Study – Chemical Free Life