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Quick Reaction Report: 

Complete and Clear 

Information on the 

Effectiveness of Ebola 

Disinfectants Will Better 

Inform the Public

Report No. 15-P-0064 January 21, 2015

 

U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL

Chemical Safety
Report Contributors: Christine Baughman

Jeffrey Harris

Lauretta Joseph

Eric Lewis

Abbreviations

ATP Antimicrobial Testing Program

CDC Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

EPA U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

OIG Office of Inspector General

Cover photo: A training participant with a jug of chlorinated disinfectant prepares to 

demonstrate how to properly carry out a disinfection procedure. 

(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention photo) 

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 15-P-0064

January 21, 2015

Why We Did This Review

This is a quick reaction report 

that addresses the 

completeness and consistency 

of information provided on the 

U.S. Environmental Protection 

Agency’s (EPA) website 

regarding disinfectants for use 

against the Ebola virus.

The EPA’s Web page

http://www.epa.gov/oppad001/lis

t-l-ebola-virus.html, titled 

Disinfectants for Use Against 

the Ebola Virus, contains a list 

of registered disinfectants that 

meet the Centers for Disease 

Control and Prevention (CDC) 

criteria for hospital disinfectants. 

This list is also known as List L.

Disinfectants like those on 

List L are regulated and 

registered by the EPA. During 

the registration process, the 

EPA reviews data submitted by 

manufacturers to verify that 

products with a public health 

claim are effective. The EPA 

also has its own testing 

program— the Antimicrobial 

Testing Program (ATP)—which 

tests the effectiveness of 

products after they are 

registered.

This report addresses the 

following EPA goal or 

cross-agency strategy:

 Ensuring the safety of 

chemicals and preventing 

pollution.

Send all inquiries to our public

affairs office at (202) 566-2391

or visit www.epa.gov/oig.

The full report is at:

www.epa.gov/oig/reports/2015/ 

20150121-15-P-0064.pdf

Quick Reaction Report: Complete and Clear 

Information on the Effectiveness of Ebola 

Disinfectants Will Better Inform the Public

 What We Found

As of December 2014, the EPA’s List L Web page

included 192 disinfectants that meet CDC criteria

for use against the Ebola virus. The EPA’s List L 

Web page contains the name of the disinfectant 

product (e.g., Clorox®), and whether the product 

can be used in hospital and health care settings,

offices, schools and residential settings. Of the 192 

products listed, 29 recently registered products (registered since 2010) have not 

been tested for effectiveness by the ATP. This status is not disclosed on the List 

L Web page.

In addition, we identified eight products on List L that are not listed on the ATP 

Web page http://www.epa.gov/oppad001/antimicrobial-testing-program.html. 

According to the EPA, three of the eight products were recently registered and 

had not been posted to the ATP Web page. The other five products had been 

tested by the ATP; however, their testing status was missing from the ATP page. 

A 2010 report by the EPA Office of Inspector General found that many

antimicrobial products, such as disinfectants, scheduled to be tested by the 

EPA’s ATP were not tested. Of those that were tested for effectiveness, the 

failure rate was high. The EPA has now tested more products. According to the 

EPA, the lack of ATP testing on recently registered products does not pose any 

risk to the public due to enhanced manufacturer testing requirements for recently 

registered products. However, the testing results designed to demonstrate 

whether products work as claimed by manufacturers are not being 

communicated clearly. 

Recommendations and Agency Corrective Actions

We recommended that the Assistant Administrator for Chemical Safety and 

Pollution Prevention modify the List L Web page information to indicate the 

status of the EPA’s ATP testing on all products listed. We also recommended

that the EPA ensure that all List L products are included on the ATP list, and 

product testing status is clearly reported.

The agency agreed with our recommendations and has completed actions to 

address them. Both recommendations are closed. 

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Office of Inspector General

At a Glance

The EPA’s Web pages 

should have ongoing, 

clear information about 

the effectiveness of 

disinfectants for use 

against the Ebola virus.
January 21, 2015

MEMORANDUM

SUBJECT: Quick Reaction Report: Complete and Clear Information on the Effectiveness of 

Ebola Disinfectants Will Better Inform the Public

Report No. 15-P-0064

FROM: Arthur A. Elkins Jr.

TO: Jim Jones, Assistant Administrator

Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention

This is a quick reaction report prepared by the Office of Inspector General (OIG) of the 

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The report addresses information the EPA provides to 

the public regarding disinfectants for use against the Ebola virus. This report represents the opinion of 

the OIG and does not necessarily represent the final EPA position. Final determinations on matters in 

this report will be made by EPA managers in accordance with established audit-resolution procedures.

The office responsible for the issues evaluated in this report is the Office of Pesticide Programs within 

the EPA’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention.

You are not required to provide a written response to this report because you have completed agreed-to 

corrective actions for the report recommendations. Both recommendations have been closed. Should you 

choose to provide a final response, we will post your response on the OIG’s public website, along with 

our memorandum commenting on your response. You should provide your response as an Adobe PDF 

file that complies with the accessibility requirements of Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 

as amended.

We will post this report to our website at http://www.epa.gov/oig. 

UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20460

THE INSPECTOR GENERAL
15-P-0064 1

Purpose, Scope and Methodology

This is a quick reaction report that addresses improvements needed in information provided by 

the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on its website regarding disinfectants that are 

for use against the Ebola virus. We reviewed the completeness and consistency of EPA’s public 

information on disinfectants for use against the Ebola virus and efficacy testing results on those 

disinfectants. 

We conducted this review from November 2014 to January 2015 in accordance with generally 

accepted government auditing standards, with the following exceptions:

 We abbreviated our normal project planning and reporting steps, as well as outreach to 

the EPA, to expedite our work due to the ongoing Ebola outbreak in Africa and the 

corresponding interest in treatment information in the United States. 

 We did not evaluate findings or conclusions in connection with internal controls as they

relate to the EPA’s Ebola disinfectants Web pages.

The departure from generally accepted government auditing standards has no impact on the 

conclusions drawn on the information provided in this report.

Background

Antimicrobials are designed to destroy or suppress harmful bacteria, viruses, and other 

microorganisms on inanimate objects and surfaces in hospitals and other settings. Antimicrobials 

are regulated and registered under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act by the 

EPA’s Office of Pesticide Programs. During the registration process, the EPA reviews test data 

submitted by manufacturers to verify that products with a public health claim are effective. The 

agency’s Antimicrobial Testing Program (ATP) is a post-registration efficacy testing program. 

The ATP determines whether products in the marketplace are effective and continue to perform 

in a manner consistent with the product’s initial registration. 

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Web pages, there are currently 

no products claiming on their label to kill the Ebola virus. However, the CDC’s website states:

... [V]iruses such as Ebola are susceptible to a broad range of hospital

disinfectants used to disinfect hard, non-porous surfaces. As a precaution,

selection of a disinfectant product with a higher potency than what is 

normally required for a virus (such as Ebola) is being recommended.

The CDC issued guidance documents1about the cleaning and decontamination of Ebola. For 

example, the CDC’s Interim Guidance for Environmental Infection Control in Hospitals for

Ebola Virus2states:

 

1 http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/prevention/cleaning-and-decontamination.html

2 http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/hcp/environmental-infection-control-in-hospitals.html
15-P-0064 2

Use a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-registered hospital 

disinfectant with a label claim for a non-enveloped virus (e.g., norovirus, 

rotavirus, adenovirus, poliovirus) to disinfect environmental surfaces in 

rooms of patients with suspected or confirmed Ebola virus infection.

The CDC also provides a link to the EPA Web page3titled Disinfectants for Use Against the 

Ebola Virus, which contains a listing of registered disinfectants that meet CDC criteria. The list 

is also known as List L, and was created by the EPA to provide easily accessible information on 

currently marketed products that can be used against the Ebola virus and on their appropriately 

labeled use sites. List L is also referenced in the various CDC guidance documents regarding 

cleaning and decontamination of Ebola.

Prior OIG Report

EPA Office of Inspector General (OIG) Report No. 11-P-0029, EPA Needs to Assure 

Effectiveness of Antimicrobial Pesticide Products,

4 was issued December 15, 2010. This report 

recommended that the EPA improve its ATP program by redesigning its process to verify

antimicrobial effectiveness. The EPA issued a letter in February 2012 stating that all agreed-to 

actions had been completed.

Recent Agency Actions Prompted by OIG Work

On November 21, 2014, the OIG contacted the Assistant Administrator for the Office of 

Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention to provide information on a time-sensitive issue 

concerning List L. The OIG noted that List L contained two products where “Agency Taking 

Action”

5 was mentioned; therefore, those two products were not confirmed as effective. 

Although one product had been removed from List L shortly after the OIG’s November 2014 

notification, the other product remained on List L.

Because of the significance of List L and broad public attention and concern about Ebola, the 

OIG suggested that the EPA remove the remaining product from List L because “an ATP 

designation of ‘Agency Taking Action’ is not wholly consistent with listing a product on List L, 

and could be misleading to those who rely on EPA’s List L designations.” The EPA responded 

promptly, stating that the remaining product status had recently changed to “Agency Confirmed 

Efficacy.” By November 24, 2014, the EPA updated the List L Web page to reflect the product’s 

status change.

Information on Testing of Ebola Disinfectants Will Better Inform Public 

As of December 2014, the EPA’s List L Web page included 192 disinfectants that meet CDC 

criteria for use against the Ebola virus. The List L Web page contains the name of the 

 

3 http://www.epa.gov/oppad001/list-l-ebola-virus.html

4 http://www.epa.gov/oig/reports/2011/20101215-11-P-0029.pdf

5 According to the ATP Web page http://www.epa.gov/oppad001/antimicrobial-testing-program.html, 

“Agency Taking Action” means “products under EPA deliberation, including undergoing testing or review, or 

taking regulatory or enforcement action.” 
15-P-0064 3

disinfectant product (e.g., Clorox®), and whether the product can be used in hospital and health 

care settings, offices, schools and residential settings. Of the 192 products listed, 29 recently 

registered products (registered since 2010) have not been tested for effectiveness by the EPA’s 

ATP. This status is not disclosed on the List L Web page. 

In addition, we identified eight products on List L that are not listed on the ATP Web page. 

According to the EPA, three of the eight products were recently registered products and had not 

been posted to the ATP Web page. The other five products had been tested by the ATP; 

however, their testing status was missing from the ATP Web page. 

The EPA OIG’s 2010 report, EPA Needs to Assure Effectiveness of Antimicrobial Pesticide 

Products, found that many antimicrobial products, such as disinfectants, scheduled to be tested 

by the EPA’s ATP were not tested. Of those products that were tested for effectiveness, the 

failure rate was high. The EPA has now tested more products. According to the EPA, the lack of 

ATP testing on recently registered products does not pose any risk to the public due to enhanced 

manufacturer testing requirements for recently registered products. However, the testing results 

designed to demonstrate whether products work as claimed by manufacturers are not being 

communicated clearly.

Recommendations

We recommend that the Assistant Administrator for Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention:

1. Modify the EPA’s List L Web page information to indicate the status of the EPA’s ATP 

testing on all products listed. 

2. Ensure that all List L products are included on the ATP list, and product testing status is 

clearly reported.

Agency Comments

EPA officials agreed with our recommendations and completed actions in response to both

recommendations. The actions taken met the intent of the recommendations. Specifically, the 

EPA’s List L Web page now contains a link to the ATP Web page. The agency also updated the 

ATP Web page to include missing List L products and their testing status. Both 

recommendations have been closed.
15-P-0064 4

Status of Recommendations and 

Potential Monetary Benefits

RECOMMENDATIONS

POTENTIAL MONETARY 

BENEFITS (in $000s)

Rec. 

No.

Page 

No. Subject Status1 Action Official

Completion 

Date

Claimed 

Amount

Agreed-To 

Amount

1 3 Modify the EPA’s List L Web page information to 

indicate the status of the EPA’s ATP testing on all 

products listed.

C Assistant Administrator for 

Chemical Safety and 

Pollution Prevention

12/8/14

2 3 Ensure that all List L products are included on the 

ATP list, and product testing status is clearly 

reported.

C Assistant Administrator for 

Chemical Safety and 

Pollution Prevention

1/7/15

1 O = Recommendation is open with agreed-to corrective actions pending.

C = Recommendation is closed with all agreed-to actions completed.

U = Recommendation is unresolved with resolution efforts in progress.
15-P-0064 5

Appendix A

Distribution

Office of the Administrator

Assistant Administrator for Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention

Agency Follow-Up Official (the CFO) 

Agency Follow-Up Coordinator 

General Counsel 

Associate Administrator for Congressional and Intergovernmental Relations 

Associate Administrator for Public Affairs 

Deputy Assistant Administrator for Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention 

Director, Office of Pesticide Programs, Office of Chemical Safety and 

 Pollution Prevention

Audit Follow-Up Coordinator, Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention