Clearing the air about anthrax disinfectants

When federal securities regulators recently cracked down on a British Columbia company for saying it would test and distribute an anthrax disinfectant, BBJ Environmental Solutions Inc. of Tampa cheered.

Making false claims about a product's antidisease capabilities is "unbelievably irresponsible," BBJ chairman Robert Baker said last week in a press release that quoted at length the regulators' condemnation of companies attempting to exploit the anthrax scare.

But the Tampa company, which manufacturers cleansers used to disinfect air-conditioning and refrigeration systems, hasn't shied away from promoting its products to those worried about anthrax.

"Can our customers protect themselves from bioterrorism by applying BBJ MicroBiocide to their HVAC system?" Baker said in an Oct. 18 release. "If BBJ MicroBiocide and our other products are used as part of a well-planned and consistently executed preventative maintenance program, risk can be reduced and may make a critical difference."

Vice president Michael Gordon said company executives considered the possibility that they would be seen as opportunistic. "We had a dilemma about that, because we were thinking if we say stuff about this, it's like we're promoting ourselves, too," he said.

Unlike the suspected charlatans, Gordon said, BBJ has been upfront about what its cleansers can and can't do. They can help prevent anthrax and other bacteria from proliferating in air conditioners by killing off their food sources, he said. But they have not been proven to kill anthrax. And they do nothing to prevent a person from inhaling anthrax from an envelope.

Sales of BBJ products rose 29 percent in October. The company's stock closed Friday at 20 cents.

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