No, Mouthwash Will Not Save You from Coronavirus Like the Penn State Study Claimed
News 18A rash of provocative headlines recently offered a tantalizing idea: that mouthwash can “inactivate” coronaviruses and help curb their spread. The stories sprang from a new study that found that a coronavirus that causes common colds — not the one that causes COVID-19 — could be incapacitated in a laboratory when doused with mouthwash. The study’s authors concluded that the products they tested “may provide an additional level of protection against” the new coronavirus. “It’s clear that if these compounds come into contact with the virus, they can inactivate it,” said Craig Meyers, a researcher at Pennsylvania State University, who is an author of the study. “It’s not like your cells get infected and then they secrete a bunch of virus and they’re done,” Rasmussen said.