Step 2: EPA’s List N
The comprehensive guidance for safe and effective usage of disinfectants begins with product identification. All disinfectant products feature an EPA Registration Number somewhere on the product label; all disinfectant products are accordingly located on the EPA’s List N. The number will consist of two or three parts and be labeled “EPA Reg. No.” See the below examples for more clarity:
Next, watch the below List N How-to Use video from the EPA, which provides guidance on how to look up a disinfectant using the List N tool by the EPA’s product registration number. The EPA expects all products on List N to kill SARS-CoV-2, the specific coronavirus that causes COVID-19.
In subsequent sections of the toolkit you will use List N to complete worksheets for disinfectant products you have selected that are used in your professional and personal environment(s) and workplace(s). Understanding what List N includes and how to use it is absolutely necessary to complete these worksheets.
Using the tool allows you to quickly learn a product’s:
- Active ingredient(s)
- Name
- Company (manufacturer)
- Virus it affects (use disinfection for virus named to eliminate COVID)
- Contact time (amount of time treated surface should remain visibly wet)
- Formulation type (application instructions)
- Surface type
- Use site (healthcare, institutional, and/or residential environment)
- Reason for being on List N
Once you have finished reading and watching the information on this page, proceed to Step 3: Disinfectant Products, which provides guidance on gathering products and/or using given examples to become proficient in your use of disinfectants.
