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OxiClean Is One Newly Approved Tool in the Fight Against Fentanyl

Bowling Green and state scientists have cleared the household cleaner for cleaning up fentanyl spills.
OXICLEAN
Bowling Green and state scientists have cleared the household cleaner for cleaning up fentanyl spills.
Bowling Green and state scientists have cleared the household cleaner for cleaning up fentanyl spills.
Credit OXICLEAN
/
OXICLEAN
Bowling Green and state scientists have cleared the household cleaner for cleaning up fentanyl spills.

The newest tool in the fight against fentanyl is a household cleaner. WKSU’s M.L. Schultze reports. OxiClean as a solution

Attorney General MikeDeWinesays researchers have found the household cleanerOxiCleanis effective in cleaning up spills of the synthetic opioidfentanyl.The state’s Center for the Future of Forensic Science and Bowling Green State University have certified that OxiClean Versatile Stain Remover is effective. The key ingredient in it is sodium percarbonate, which oxidizes and breaks down the powder. The recommended procedure calls for mixing the OxiClean with water, spraying down the power, waiting 15 minutes to dry and scrubbing with a paper towel.

There’s been increasing concern among police, paramedics and other first responders about exposure to fentanyl, which has been mixed with -- and is much more potent than --  heroin.

The Attorney General still recommends clean-up crews wear disposable gloves and lab coats, as well as particulate masks and goggles. 

Copyright 2017 WKSU

M.L. Schultze came to WKSU as news director in July 2007 after 25 years at The Repository in Canton, where she was managing editor for nearly a decade. She’s now the digital editor and an award-winning reporter and analyst who has appeared on NPR, Here and Now and the TakeAway, as well as being a regular panelist on Ideas, the WVIZ public television's reporter roundtable.