Can HOCl kill the Coronavirus - COVID-19?

Because COVID-19 is so new, this exact strain of pathogen isn't actually available for widespread lab testing at this time. Therefore, most companies have not been able to show test results against COVID-19, yet.  Many companies are waiting for approval by the CDC. It seems that they're pretty overwhelmed, right now, so it may be a while before legitimate, medically certified HOCl machines are able to get CDC approval. In the meantime, we just have to use our best judgment about using hypochlorous acid, based on what we already know.

Here are the facts:

     1) The CDC recommends using a diluted bleach solution, to kill COVID-19. But HOCl has been shown to be able to kill pathogens faster, and more effectively, than bleach, because it is more easily able to get into pathogenic cells. HOCl also has a net neutral charge, so it doesn't repel pathogens with a negative charge.

     2) You are unlikely to find a single pathogen that HOCl does not kill, in a laboratory test. It's been tested on HIV, Hepatitis, E. coli, salmonella, Anthrax, Candida, Antibiotic-resistant bacteria, bacteria that can cause pneumonia, and much more. You can see a list of pathogens (including human Coronavirus OC43) killed by Hypochlorous acid, HERE. Click on the "+" sign to see it in a larger format. This list was provided by Briotech, another manufacturer of HOCl products.

     3) The CDC has listed 2 products, on their website, that have hypochlorous acid as the main ingredient (but those concentrations are not nearly as strong as pure HOCl). (Update 3/20/20: Two more HOCl solutions have been added, so it appears that the list is going to continue to grow).

     4) You can see a study called "Inactivation of the coronavirus that induces severe acute respiratory syndrome, SARS-CoV" by clicking HERE. In this study, you'll see it says: "The virus was inactivated by ultraviolet light (UV) at 254 nm, heat treatment of 65 degrees C or greater, alkaline (pH > 12) or acidic (pH < 3) conditions."  The pH of Hypchlorous acid is typically around 2.5.

     5) In October 2002, the FDA cleared Hypochlorous acid (superoxidized water) as a high-level disinfectant. You can see this in the CDC's document "Guideline for Disinfection and Sterilization in Healthcare Facilities," in the last paragraph of pg. 43.  


     6) The FDA has listed Hypochlorous acid in their document, "Inventory of Effective Food Contact Substances (FCS) Notifications" - you can see this by clicking on THIS PAGE.

     7) Taiwan has been using HOCl extensively, to fight the coronavirus, and their rates of infection have been very low, compared to China (they are doing many things, but HOCl appears to be a standard method of disinfection, there). South Korea has also been using it in drive-thru testing stations, and their methods seem to be working.


There is an excellent writeup on this topic of HOCl and COVID-19 testing, by Dr. M.R. Lewis from Aqualution.  They have done testing on many different pathogens, including coronaviruses, in the past.  

 You can see an excerpt, below, from this page.

We are not currently able to test Aqualution products against 2019-nCoV as the strain is not available for laboratory testing. In addition, even if samples were available, it is not possible to make any definitive claims until regulators review and approve those claims, this is the situation with the newly identified Coronavirus.

Dr. M.R. Lewis gives an excellent analysis to show why it is very likely that Hypochlorous acid could be a powerful weapon against COVID-19. You can read his full analysis on the Aqualution page, by CLICKING HERE.  I have put some highlighted excerpts from the page, below, including some important information that made me realize, if alcohol wipes are not always effective in killing the calicivirus, then alcohol-based hand sanitizers may not be foolproof against COVID-19.

Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) – Aqualution, Effective Prevention and Control

Posted on February 5, 2020

Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV)

Scope for Aqualution Hypochlorous Acid Solution for Effective Prevention and Control

Dr M R Lewis

Coronaviruses, as with Hepatitis, Influenza, Herpes, Newcastle Disease and Orthopox, are enveloped viruses. Enveloped viruses are viruses that possess an envelope or outer coating that is composed of a lipid layer (fat-like substance that is water insoluble). The envelope is needed to aid in attachment of the virus to the host cell. Loss of the envelope results in loss of infectivity. The mode of transmission for enveloped viruses is characterised by the specific virus; however, the most common routes are via indirect or direct contact of infectious virus particles, contact with or inhalation of respiratory droplets. Some enveloped viruses may also be transmitted by airborne transmission. Enveloped viruses are easily inactivated by routine surface cleaning and disinfection. The inactivation mechanisms of several common virucidal agents have been reported. Treatments with ultraviolet (UV) radiation and Aqualution hypochlorous acid usually destroy the viral genome, whereas chlorine dioxide and heat interrupt the process of host cell recognition for virus binding (Wigginton, 2012).

However, Aqualution products have passed British Standards tests for virus efficacy and we have conducted our own in-house testing against a wide range of viruses, both enveloped and non-enveloped. We constantly strive to ensure that Aqualution products are efficacious and as such have performed many tests against a wide range of organisms. We have passed all the BS EN tests highlighted in the table above and have not failed to achieve a positive test result to date. We have also carried out tests on a wide range of other organisms to satisfy the very vigorous demands of the Biocidal Products Regulation (BPR) under which our active substance is approved and for which we own the dossiers submitted to ECHA regulating Aqualution hypochlorous acid throughout the European Union.

Aqualution hypochlorous acid is not specifically tested against 2019-nCoV – no disinfectant is – but it is tested and efficacious against a wide range of microorganisms including spores, bacteria and other viruses (enveloped and non-enveloped) leading to the reasonable conclusion that it will be effective.

SARS-CoV has been shown to persist on hard surfaces for up to 96 hours (Duan et al., 2003) and up to 5 days if dry (Rabenau et al., 2005b); MERS-CoV persists for at least 48 hours on surfaces (Hui et al., 2018). Environmental contamination is considered a serious reservoir of infection in hotels, public places and health care settings (Radun et al., 2003). Environmental contamination by MERS-CoV in patients’ rooms has been reported in South Korea, with positive MERS-CoV RT-PCR results for cultures from environmental swabs taken from bed sheets, bed rails, intravenous fluid hangers and tables (Bin et al., 2016). In the same study viable MERS-CoV viruses could still be isolated from three of the four enrolled patients studied on days 18–25 after symptom onset. Another study (Cho et al., 2016) detected the presence of MERS-CoV by RT-PCR in viral cultures from four of seven air samples taken from two patients’ rooms, one patient’s bathroom, and one common corridor. MERS-CoV was also detected in the viral cultures for 15 of 68 surface swabs. A third study showed low concentrations of MERS-CoV RNA for environmental swabs taken from bed guardrails and monitors. Even after cleaning the monitors with 70% alcohol based disinfectant, RT-PCR showed low concentrations of MERS-CoV RNA remained: the samples only became negative for MERS-CoV after the monitors were wiped with diluted sodium hypochlorite (Song et al., 2015). This is consistent with the findings of other researchers eg Rabenau et al. (2005) found that (under laboratory conditions) alcohol gels were effective against feline calicivirus in the presence of fetal calf serum but not effective in the presence of sheep erythrocytes or serum albumin: clearly alcohol gels are not efficacious under all “dirty” conditions.

Aqualution hypochlorous acid manufactured by Aqualution Systems achieves very high scores and as such could offer a safe and efficacious disinfection option in domestic, community and healthcare settings.

Our findings demonstrate that it consistently performs well under both laboratory and field conditions and as such is fit for purpose. We have passed many efficacy tests, including the stipulated BS EN tests. We have achieved the required >3 log reductions in viral loads both under laboratory and commercial “real life” conditions. Alcohol-based sanitizers and disinfectants are effective against viruses in laboratory-based tests, and therefore recommended to prevent viral transmission. However they do not always appear to be effective in “real life” situations. Similarly, the glutaraldehydes tested by Rabenau and workers (2005) achieved good log reductions of viral loading on surfaces. However, their very long contact times (30 -60 minutes) mean that they may be of limited “real world” use as it is not practical nor in some cases safe, to leave them on the surface for that length of time. Aqualution hypochlorous acid achieves >5 log viral reductions in less than a minute and is therefore effective in a spray and wipe cleaning regime.

The EPA has listed 2 Hypochlorous Acid disinfectants that are known to kill CoV-2 (their approved disinfectant list is growing, daily).  Please note, the new strain of Coronavirus also goes by the disease name "coronavirus disease" and COVID-19, and the virus name is classified as SARS-CoV-2. You can read more about the verbage, HERE. I'm pointing this out so you can see that CoV-2 is the virus that causes COVID-19.

If you CLICK HERE, you can see the CDC's list of approved Disinfectants for Use Against SARS-CoV-2 (aka COVID-19, or The Coronavirus). If you type "hypochlorous acid" into the search box, you can see these 2 disinfectants pop up. 

One product is called "Cleansmart," and the other is called "Cousteau."


Here is a breakdown of the ingredients in these two products.  As you can see, the ingredients are just water, salt (sodium chloride), and hypochlorous acid. The hypochlorite ion is a natural part of the ionization process.

CLEANSMART PDF

These are the ingredients for Cousteau, which are the same as the ingredients for CleanSmart, but the hypochlorite ion is not listed.

COUSTEAU PDF

Again, please keep in mind that more products are being added, and the CDC has a statement on their website that says:

Note: Inclusion on this list does not constitute an endorsement by EPA. There may be additional disinfectants that meet the criteria for use against SARS-CoV-2. EPA will update this list with additional products as needed.

There are many hypochlorous acid products available on the market, and on Amazon. Products like PathoCide, Puracyn, Briotech, Curativa Bay and HypoChlor are really effective for killing pathogens, with lots of happy customers.  Just keep in mind that these products can cost up to $12 per ounce!

But when it comes to germs that can severely disrupt your life and health - in my opinion, hypohlorous acid can be worth it's weight in gold.