Tuberculocidal Disinfectants Explained
What are tuberculocidal disinfectants?
In US regulatory terms, a tuberculocidal disinfectant (a "tuberculocide") is an EPA-registered antimicrobial pesticide that EPA has accepted lab testing data for showing it works as a disinfectant against Mycobacterium tuberculosis. EPA publishes these products as List B: "EPA's Registered Tuberculocide Products Effective Against Mycobacterium tuberculosis".
Approach: I searched EPA's selected registered-disinfectant lists and the EPA Antimicrobial Testing Program list, then read EPA's official List B page for the definition. Neither dataset defines the term, so the definition comes from that page.
How EPA describes them (EPA List B page)
- Products are listed once EPA has "required laboratory testing data demonstrating that these products can be used as disinfectants against Mycobacterium tuberculosis."
- EPA describes TB as "a species of bacteria that normally attacks the lungs but can affect other parts of the body."
- The claim applies to one pathogen only. EPA warns that "disinfectants may have different directions for different pathogens." Users are told to check that the label includes directions for use as a disinfectant against M. tuberculosis.
- Contact time is part of the claim. It is "the time the product must be applied to the surface for it to be effective."
What the List B entries look like Each entry gives the registration number, active ingredient, contact time (how long the surface must stay wet), formulation type, surface type and use sites. Some examples:
| EPA Reg. No. | Product | Active ingredient | Contact time | Use sites |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 99764-1 | Everyday Disinfectant | Hypochlorous acid | 10 min | Hospital; Institutional; Residential [1] |
| 98223-1 | Pro Oxide | Chlorine dioxide | 10 min | Hospital; Institutional; Residential [2] |
| 9804-1 | Oxine | Chlorine dioxide | 10 min | Hospital; Institutional [3] |
| 84368-1 | Urthpro | Ethanol | 5 min | Hospital; Institutional; Residential [4] |
| 87508-3 | PerformAcide | Sodium chlorite (generator) | 10 min | Institutional [5] |
All of these are labelled for hard non-porous surfaces only. Their use sites vary: hospital, institutional and/or residential.
I didn't check EU or other-jurisdiction biocide sources, which handle mycobactericidal claims under different rules. I can look into that, or give you the full List B filtered by active ingredient or use site.
Sources:
Do they also kill bacterial spores and norovirus?
Not automatically. In EPA's system, killing M. tuberculosis is a separate label claim from norovirus or C. difficile. Each needs its own supporting data and has its own contact time. Of the 175 products on List B (176 entries; one registration number appears twice):
- 117 are also on List G (norovirus).
- 44 are also on List K (Clostridioides difficile).
- 36 are on all three lists.
- 50 have neither claim.
EPA's lists hold no general "kills bacterial spores" claim. The closest is List K, which is specific to C. difficile. I can't tell you what List K says about spores, because the list records here only name the pathogen.
Approach: I compared EPA's List B (tuberculocides) entry by entry against List G (norovirus) and List K (C. difficile) by EPA registration number. These are EPA's selected lists, not the full set of EPA pesticide registrations, so a product missing from G or K may still have the claim on its label.
The contact time changes with the organism. Even when a product is on two or three lists, it often needs a different wet time for each claim:
| Product (Reg. No.) | TB (List B) | Norovirus (List G) | C. difficile (List K) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oxivir TB (70627-56) | 5 min [6] | 1 min [7] | Not listed |
| Urthpro (84368-1) | 5 min [4] | 0.5 min [8] | Not listed |
| Peridox (8383-12) | 5 min [9] | 2 min [10] | 3 min [11] |
| Virasept (1677-226) | 2.5 min [12] | 4 min [13] | 10 min [14] |
| Clorox Performance Bleach1 (5813-114) | 10 min [15] | 10 min [16] | 10 min [17] |
The contact time differs between the TB and norovirus claims for 72 of the 117 shared products. It differs between the TB and C. difficile claims for 31 of the 44. If you want a product to cover all three organisms, use the longest contact time on its label.
Which products cover all three: they are mostly bleach (sodium hypochlorite) and peroxide/peracetic acid products. Examples are CaviWipes Bleach (46781-14) [18], PDI Sani-Cloth Bleach Wipes (9480-8) [19] and Oxycide Daily Disinfectant Cleaner (1677-237) [20]. Of the 50 TB-only products, the most common type is the phenolic blend o-phenylphenol with 2-benzyl-4-chlorophenol (7 products).
The panel document lists every List B product. For each one it shows whether the product is also on List G and List K, with the contact time for each claim and citations.
How do I check their EPA claims?
Use the EPA registration number. Check it against EPA's pathogen lists, then confirm the claim and contact time on the label EPA accepted. A listing tells you EPA holds data for that claim. The product label governs how the product is actually used.
Approach: I searched EPA's selected registered-disinfectant lists, the EPA Antimicrobial Testing Program list and EPA's Pesticide Registration Notices. The product labels themselves aren't in those datasets, so the label step comes from EPA's official List B and Pesticide Product Label System (PPLS) pages.
Step 1: Get the registration number from the product. EPA says to "find the EPA registration number on the product label. Look for 'EPA Reg. No.' followed by two" numbers (EPA List B). Distributor versions are not listed separately. EPA's example: "if EPA Reg. No. 12345-12 is on the lists, you can buy EPA Reg. No. 12345-12-2567 and know you're getting an equivalent product." So drop the third number and search the first two.
Step 2: Search every EPA list that applies. Search the number "exactly as it appears on the label." One registration number can be on many lists, each with its own contact time. Oxivir TB (70627-56), for example, is on:
| EPA list | Contact time |
|---|---|
| B (TB) | 5 min [6] |
| G (norovirus) | 1 min [7] |
| H (MRSA/VRE) | 1 min [21] |
| M (avian influenza) | 1 min [22] |
| N (SARS-CoV-2), added 04/13/2021 | 1 min [23] |
| O (rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus) | 1 min [24] |
| Q (emerging viral pathogens, Tiers 1-3) | 1 min [25] |
| S (HIV, Hep B, Hep C) | 1 min each [26] |
Each entry also gives the surface type, use sites and formulation. For this product: hard non-porous surfaces, hospital/institutional use, ready-to-use.
Step 3: Confirm it on the label. EPA says to "make sure to check that the product's label includes directions for use as a disinfectant product against Mycobacterium tuberculosis under Use Directions for Disinfection," and to "follow the label directions… carefully including the contact time" (EPA List B). EPA's PPLS holds over 170,000 accepted labels as text-searchable PDFs. You can search it by "EPA Registration, Distributor Product, or Special Local Need Number," brand name, active ingredient or company (PPLS search). It holds "current and historical labels," so open the most recent accepted label.
Step 4 (optional): Check EPA's own post-market testing. The Antimicrobial Testing Program list from March 2018 gives each tested hospital disinfectant or tuberculocide a status:
- Oxivir TB (70627-56): "Agency Confirmed Efficacy" [27]
- Virasept (1677-226): "Agency Confirmed Efficacy" [28]
- Other products are marked "Agency Taking Action", e.g. BioSURF (70467-3) [29]
I found no testing-program entry for Urthpro (84368-1), Peridox (8383-12) or Clorox Performance Bleach1 (5813-114).
Watch for: EPA PR Notice 93-6, "False or Misleading Statements Related to Efficacy" [30]. Claims in brochures, websites or spec sheets that go beyond the accepted label aren't covered by the registration.
If you send me registration numbers (or a label), I can pull every list entry and contact time for each one and check them against the label text.
Sources: