July 28, 2007 | Health, Shopping
Walk down the hand-soap aisle of your supermarket and see how many you can spot that are not anti-bacterial. I went to my grocery store trying to buy soap that wasn’t anti-bacterial, and of the probably 40+ varieties on the shelf, I was only able to find one that wasn’t anti-bacterial. A marketplace study in 2000 found that over 75% of liquid soaps and nearly 30% of bar soaps are anti-bacterial.
But there’s been a lot of talk about anti-bacterial soaps not being as effective as once thought. They’re great in places like hospitals where germs run wild, but in homes they can be counter-productive. According to the CDC, anti-bacterial soaps can be to blame for childhood allergies and asthma. As it turns out, the brain needs a work-out as much as your muscles do, and exposure to different bacteria is actually good for the body. When anti-bacterial soaps remove all the bacteria, the brain loses its ability to differentiate between good and bad bacteria.
Also according to the CDC, the prevalent use of anti-bacterials is a major cause of drug-resistant strains of diseases, like E-coli. It seems that there is such a thing as too clean. What does the CDC recommend to keep hands clean? Regular washing with soap and warm water (unless you’re in a hospital - then anti-bacterials are worthwhile).
A study of over 200 households found that those who used anti-bacterials had no reduced risk of symptoms for viral infections. They’re just not effective. Other countries have issued statements warning consumers about anti-bacterials. In fact, the Danish EPA issued a joint statement with the National Board of Health stating that anti-bacterial soaps are not only unnecessary, but also toxic to marine life. Six Finnish public authorities also issued similar statements urging consumers not to purchase anti-bacterials because they are unnecessary and their growing use increases the risk of spreading antibiotic resistance in microbial populations.
What can you do? Purchase regular soap that isn’t anti-bacterial. Encourage your grocery store to stock more soaps that aren’t anti-bacterial. And tune in for part 2 on anti-bacterials - if you think this is bad, just wait…
RSS feed for comments on this post.
The URI to TrackBack this entry is:
http://broomhuggers.com/2007/07/28/anti-bacterials-part-1/trackback/
Lisa says:
I always like reading those stories that prove a “dirtier” house is better for kids. I can GO for that plan! LOL
July 28th, 2007 at 1:22 pmMegan at Sortacrunchy says:
Thank you for this! My MIL thinks it’s nearly sinful that I don’t use anti-bacterial soap at every sink in the house. Now I have some good info to arm myself with. Looking forward to part 2!
July 28th, 2007 at 1:28 pmLucy says:
What about after touching raw meat and such?
July 28th, 2007 at 4:44 pmmudlark says:
Great question Lucy! If you wash your hands properly with regular soap after handling meat, that will take care of the bacteria from the meat. By ‘properly,’ I mean lathering with soap and warm water for 15-20 seconds. If you don’t have time to do that in the middle of cooking keep a waterless anti-bacterial on the kitchen counter. Just remember if you have kids to keep it where they can’t get to it.
July 28th, 2007 at 7:56 pmmary anne says:
What about anti-bacterial hand gel and wipes? We are travelling on a plane on Monday. Are the gels and wipes good for times like travelling or do you have another suggestion?
July 28th, 2007 at 8:41 pmmudlark says:
If you want something portable for airplane travel, do look into anti-bacterial wipes. Not because you need the anti-bacterial product, but because you most likely won’t have the opportunity to wash hands as frequently as you would like. Your supermarket probably has some in the soap aisle, or at Babies R Us there are a few that are non-alcoholic. My favorite is Clean Well, but I don’t know if you’d be able to get them in time for your trip. And pick up some Airborne at the drug store or grocery store - we use it religiously when we travel. It boosts your immune system to help you fight all those travel bugs that come from stale airplane air!
July 29th, 2007 at 9:27 amBroomhuggers » Antibacterials, part 2: Triclosan says:
[…] « Anti-bacterials: part 1 […]
July 29th, 2007 at 3:32 pm