The US EPA has ordered online retailers Amazon and eBay to immediately stop selling a range of biocidal products that are unregistered, misbranded, restricted for use, or marketed with false or misleading claims.
The two stop-sale orders cover over 30 products sold on Amazon and over 40 products on eBay.
None of those sold on Amazon are registered with the agency and thus not backed up by a proper risk assessment, the EPA reports.
Some of the biocides sold on eBay are restricted to professional use. It is unlawful to sell them to the general public.
And several products are being marketed with false or misleading claims of efficacy against the novel coronavirus, such as "kills Covid-19" or "complete sterilisation including the current pandemic virus".
The EPA flagged that 55-gallon drums of methylene chloride are being marketed for use as a coronavirus disinfectant and paint stripper on eBay.
Besides being unapproved for use against the coronavirus, methylene chloride is banned for sale to consumers for paint removal purposes after acute exposure to the chemical was linked to several deaths.
Another product claimed to be a card-shaped disinfectant releaser that would provide coronavirus protection to the wearer. And another said it was exempt from EPA regulation and made entirely with "clean, green, safe, environmentally friendly ingredients" while also claiming to deactivate the virus causing Covid-19.
The stop-sale orders are the latest in a series of increasing efforts by the EPA to crack down on rogue sellers online.
In April, the agency advised eight technology companies – including Amazon and eBay – that dealers are using their platforms to sell illegal disinfectant products that claim to be effective against Covid-19.
"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," the EPA said.