Are you a pesticide? A check

Run this before printing a label and before publishing a listing. It is not a legal determination; it is a way of finding out whether you need one.

Ten questions

1. Does the label, packaging, website, listing, sell sheet or any post say the product kills, destroys, inactivates, controls or reduces bacteria, viruses, germs, mold or mildew?

2. Do the words disinfect, sanitize or sterilize appear anywhere?

3. Do antibacterial, antimicrobial, antiviral or germicidal appear?

4. Is any percentage of organisms claimed to be killed?

5. Is the product listed, categorized or tagged under disinfectants or sanitizers anywhere it is sold?

6. Does any imagery show germs being destroyed, or a shield, or a clinical setting?

7. Is the product marketed for protection from illness or for use during an outbreak?

8. Is a biocidal ingredient named as a benefit anywhere outside the ingredient list?

9. Do any reviews or testimonials you display make any of the above claims?

10. Does the product name or the range name imply any of it?

If any answer is yes

You are making a pesticidal claim, and the product requires EPA registration before sale: a registered active, efficacy data, product chemistry, an approved label, an establishment number and state registrations.

Two responses. Register, or remove what triggered the answer.

Questions 5, 9 and 10 are the ones that catch compliant products, because the label is fine and something else is not.

If every answer is no

You are a cleaning product. The applicable regimes are cautionary labeling under the FHSA, child- resistant packaging where a threshold is crossed, ingredient disclosure for California, and truthful advertising including the Green Guides.

Re-run it when anything changes

A new listing, a new marketplace, a seasonal campaign, a new person writing posts, a reformulation, or a new product name.

The failure is never a decision to become a pesticide. It is a compliant product being sold as something else a year later.

References