Posted at 4:57 p.m., Monday, November 19, 2007
Waipahu distributor fined $52,000 by EPA
Advertiser Staff
ABC Corp., a Waipahu-based distributor, has agreed to pay a $52,000 fine for distributing a product which did not meet its labeling claim, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced today.Dean Higuchi, spokesman from the EPA's Hawai'i office, said samples of "Fresh and Clean" collected by state agriculture inspectors from the ABC facility in March 2005 were found to be ineffective against Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteria in lab tests, which meant the product did not meet its labeling claim of being suitable for hospital use.
When notified of lab findings, ABC Corp. stopped distributing "Fresh and Clean," the EPA news release said. Lonza Inc. of Allendale, N.J., supplied ABC with the product.
"Hospital disinfectants must meet specific efficacy requirements which Fresh and Clean does not," Katherine Taylor, associate director of the EPA Pacific Southwest Region Communities and Ecosystems Division, said in a written statement.
Disinfectants are considered pesticides under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, which regulates the production, distribution, and use of pesticides within the U.S.
