ArticleEMBO molecular medicine2023
Propylene glycol inactivates respiratory viruses and prevents airborne transmission.
Article in EMBO molecular medicine, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 6 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed.
- Inactivation of airborne pathogen surrogates by triethylene glycol.Applied and environmental microbiology · 2026Article
- Glycol vapor pathogen disinfection: a defensive technology for emerging biothreats.Frontiers in microbiology · 2026Review
- Rapid virucidal activity of an air sanitizer against aerosolized MS2 and Phi6 phage surrogates for non-enveloped and enveloped vertebrate viruses, including SARS-CoV-2.Applied and environmental microbiology · 2025Article
- Chronic CRYPTOCHROME deficiency enhances cell-intrinsic antiviral defences.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2025Article
- A new chapter of healthy indoor air: antiviral air treatments.EMBO molecular medicine · 2023Article
- Propylene glycol inactivates respiratory viruses and prevents airborne transmission.EMBO molecular medicine · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
16 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Viruses are vulnerable as they transmit between hosts, and we aimed to exploit this critical window. We found that the ubiquitous, safe, inexpensive and biodegradable small molecule propylene glycol (PG) has robust virucidal activity. Propylene glycol rapidly inactivates a broad range of viruses including influenza A, SARS-CoV-2 and rotavirus and reduces disease burden in mice when administered intranasally at concentrations commonly found in nasal sprays. Most critically, vaporised PG efficiently abolishes influenza A virus and SARS-CoV-2 infectivity within airborne droplets, potently preventing infection at levels well below those tolerated by mammals. We present PG vapour as a first-in-class non-toxic airborne virucide that can prevent transmission of existing and emergent viral pathogens, with clear and immediate implications for public health.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.