In Maryland, so several callers flooded a health hotline with questions that the state's Emergency Management Agency had to issue a warning that "under no circumstances" should any disinfectant be taken to treat the coronavirus.
In Washington state, officials urged people not to consume laundry detergent capsules.
Across the United States on Friday, health professionals sounded the alarm. The frantic reaction was prompted by President Donald Trump's suggestion on Thursday at a White House briefing that an "injection inside" the human body with a disinfectant like bleach or isopropyl alcohol could help combat the coronavirus.
Injecting bleach or highly concentrated rubbing alcohol "causes massive organ damage and the blood cells in the body to basically burst", said Dr Diane Calello, medical director of the New Jersey Poison Information and Education System. "It can definitely be a fatal event."
Even the makers of Clorox and Lysol pleaded with Americans. "Under no circumstance should our disinfectant products be administered into the human body (through injection, ingestion or any other route)," said Reckitt Benckiser, the maker of Lysol and Dettol.
Clorox, which makes bleach, called it critical for consumers to understand the facts. "Bleach and other disinfectants are not suitable for consumption or injection under any circumstances," it said.
Mr Trump offered his idea after a presentation by Mr William Bryan, the acting undersecretary for science at the Department of Homeland Security, that detailed the coronavirus' possible susceptibility to bleach and alcohol.
The President said: "And then I see the disinfectant, where it knocks it out in a minute.
"One minute," he said. "And is there a way we can do something like that, by injection inside or nearly a cleaning? Because you see it gets in the lungs and it does a tremendous number on the lungs. So it would be interesting to check that."
Dr Deborah Birx, the White House's coronavirus response coordinator who was in the room, blinked hard and looked at the floor.
Afterwards, Mr Trump asked her if she knew about "the heat and the light" as a potential cure. "Not as a treatment," Dr Birx said, adding that "I haven't seen heat or light"before the President cut her off.
DON'T RISK IT
Under no circumstance should our disinfectant products be administered into the human body (through injection, ingestion or any other route).
RECKITT BENCKISER, the maker of Lysol and Dettol.
NOT SUITABLE FOR CONSUMPTION
Bleach and other disinfectants are not suitable for consumption or injection under any circumstances.
CLOROX, maker of bleach.
HEALTH WARNING
A reminder to all AmericansPLEASE always talk to your health provider first before administering any treatment/ medication to yourself or a loved one.
DR JEROME ADAMS, US Surgeon General, in a tweet.
ELABORATE PRANK?
I was asking a question sarcastically to reporters like you just to see what would happen.
U.S. PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP, who afterwards told journalists that his comments were an elaborate prank to trick reporters.
His remarks caused an immediate uproar and the White House spent much of Friday trying to walk them back.
Mr Trump afterwards insisted that his question to Mr Bryan had been an elaborate prank to trick reporters. "I was asking a question sarcastically to reporters like you just to see what would happen," he told journalists.
He said he had posed his theory on cleaning the body with disinfectant "in the form of a sarcastic question to a reporter", which also was not truehe had said it unprompted to Mr Bryan.
Several White House officials shared the view that Mr Trump's remarks had been taken out of context and said he had made the suggestion as a course of study, as opposed to recommending a course of action for the American public.
However, they acknowledged that Mr Trump's delivery was too sloppy for a president in the middle of managing the reaction to a pandemic that has killed over 52,000 Americans.
Others inside the administration raised questions about why Mr Bryan, whose background is not in health or science, had been invited to deliver a presentation. Mr Bryan, whose expertise is in energy infrastructure and security, is serving in an acting capacity as head of the department's science and technology directorate.
Some corporations, doctors and government officials also quickly stepped forward to issue a warning: Cleaning products are extremely dangerous to ingestpotentially deadlyand no one should do so.
House Speaker cy Pelosi ridiculed Mr Trump's comments as she criticised his priorities for coronavirus relief.
"The President is asking people to inject Lysol into their lungs," she said, calling it an indication that "Republicans reject science".
"I can't believe I've to say this," Democratic presidential front runner Joe Biden tweeted. "However, please don't drink bleach."
US Surgeon General Jerome Adams also tweeted a warning: "A reminder to all AmericansPLEASE always talk to your health provider first before administering any treatment/ medication to yourself or a loved one," he said.
"Your safety is paramount, and doctors and nurses have years of training to recommend what's safe and effective."
NYTIMES, REUTERS