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is antibacterial soap bad for you?
On the surface of it, soap that
kills bacteria sounds like a great idea.
As well as keeping egregious body odors within society acceptable limits,
it kills off bacteria that could otherwise cause
serious infections if they get to the wrong place. But the United States Food
and Drug Administration
isn't so convinced, and this has led them to challenge manufacturers of
antibacterial soaps to prove
their products are safe, and better at doing their stuff
than plain old soap and water. But why use
antibacterial soaps in the first place? Here's the deal:
Billions upon billions have bacterial live,
eat and reproduce on our bodies. surprisingly this is
actually a good thing. Many of these bacteria help keep us healthy.
But if they get inside your body through cuts, or
profligate finger licking, or other less salubrious activities,
some of them can do a lot of harm.
So we taught to wash our hands regularly
with soap and water to keep the risks of bacterial infection low.
It was probably a no brainer then to make super-soaps when
antibacterial agents like triclosan came along,
enabling them to kill off more bugs and reduce the chances of infection still further.
Triclosan has been in use since the late nineteen sixties to
prevent hospital infections,
and it's been used widely in personal care products for
over thirty years. So why is FDA taking
action now? FDA requires chemicals like
triclosan to be safe an effective to pass muster.
In their eyes, it's not enough for an antibacterial soap
just to be safe. Its also got to do a better job than the alternative -
which in this case is regular soap and water.
The good news is that research indicates triclosan
is reasonably safe for human use. But there
are some niggling uncertainties. For instance,
small quantities of triclosan can get into the human body when using products
like soap.
One study found triclosan in nearly 75 percent of people tested.
So most of us have a floating around our bodies somewhere.
But are these low levels dangerous?
In the short term, probably not. But there's less certainty over possible
long-term impacts.
Like cancer for instance. Triclosan looks like it doesn't
actually cause cancer when the stuff gets inside your body. But there
are some slight concerns that it might not be good for the skin
over long periods of use. Once out in the environment,
triclosan isn't good for some organisms, and it tends to hang around
for a while.
And when it does degrade, it can be transformed into more
dangerous chemicals. Although whether this is an issue no one knows for sure yet.
Then there’s worries over overuse leading to
antibacterial resistant microbes. There's not a whole lot of evidence to support
this,
But the are some indicators that it could be a possible
problem. And finally triclosan can behave like a human hormone.
this doesn't necessarily mean that it's harmful.
Just because something shows hormone- like behavior doesn't mean it belongs on
the blacklist.
But it does suggest more needs to be known about the long-term safety of the
substance -
especially in the early stages prenatal development.
Of course any potential risks - especially speculative ones -
need to be balanced against the benefits of using
bug-killing soap. In this case, there’s quite a bit research that suggests
triclosan-containing soap doesn't perform better than
ordinary soap and water, unless high concentrations of substance are used
and there are repeated washings.
This isn't too surprising as soap and water are pretty good at killing bacteria
without additional help.
Of course, in a medical setting, you need every age you can get. And here,
good washing practices and triclosan can combine keep infection rates down.
But for ordinary people the FDA remains to be convinced that the benefits of using
antibacterial soap
outweigh the potential downsides.
Which is why they are proposing to ask manufacturers for more
evidence before giving their products the green light.
In the meantime, there is absolutely nothing to stop
you as a consumer using the soaps. Or not.
It all depends on how you personally
balance the potential downsides with the possible
benefits. For more information on antibacterial agents in soaps and the
FDA's proposed ruling, please check out the links in the blurb below.
And don't forget to join the conversation in the comments.