American Airlines will treat its fleet with a new long-lasting antiviral product under special emergency approval from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the carrier announced.
Over the next few months, American will begin using Allied BioScience's SurfaceWise2 electrostatic spraying solution, which is the first product approved as a long-lasting antiviral coating by the EPA, the agency's administrator, Andrew Wheeler, said Monday during a media call. The product "works by coating surfaces … and inactivating viruses, and it continues to work against them for up to seven days" and is "a groundbreaking step in providing long-lasting protection in public spaces," Wheeler said.
For now, the emergency approval is for use only in Texas and only by American Airlines and two clinics operated by Total Orthopedics Sports & Spine. Other states also can apply for emergency approval as well as other businesses, including other airlines, or institutions such as schools, but the EPA will first have to determine it is effective for them specifically.
"We haven't granted a blanket authorization for this product yet," Wheeler said. "While we're working on that, we have to approve it on a surface-by-surface basis."
Allied BioScience during the next few months will submit additional information to the EPA to attain non-emergency approval for its product. If successful, the product will be available for purchase by the general public, Wheeler said.
American Airlines COO David Seymour said the carrier is working to get approval in other states to speed up the product's use on the entire fleet. It will be an addition to "multiple layers of protection that are already in place," he said.