Wildlife deaths from coronavirus disinfectant use alarm scientists
In Chongqing, China, at least 135 animals were poisoned—evidence that cities should regulate spraying in public areas, biologists argue.
In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, public health officials believed that one of the most effective ways to fight the spread of the virus was to disinfect highly touched surfaces.
That led China, South Korea, France, Spain, and several other countries to spray copious amounts of disinfectant throughout densely populated urban areas. Fleets of trucks, drones, and even robots doused streets, parks, playgrounds, and other outdoor public spaces with virus-killing chemicals.
In Indonesia, drones drenched homes in disinfectant from above. And in one village in Spain, tractors dumped hundreds of gallons of bleach onto a public beach.
And this month, biologists joined in, claiming in a new commentary in the journal Environmental Research that the indiscriminate use of
