Antibacterial soap isn't.

[d00df00d]

This is a must-read for anyone who didn't know. Antibacterial soaps don't actually kill the bacteria that make us sick, it might not even be good for us if it did, and the antibacterial agents seep into the water table where they mess up wildlife and become toxins in our drinking water. This isn't just some scientists in a lab talking: it's the official opinion of the FDA and AMA.

http://climate.weather.com/articles/dcantibacterialsoap2009.html

This article explains just about everything. I would only add that if the antibacterial agents are in the water table, they are also creating a selection pressure that could cause bacteria to develop resistance, which would be BIG trouble.

Around where I live, it's hard to find non-antibacterial soap any more. Everyone buys into the fad...

 

[ramblar]

wow........................

 

[robl]

Yes, for a long time, I have used 'normal' soap. I heard of this years ago when they started to promote the antibacterial soaps

 

[sciphi]

Same here. The only good ways to kill nasty bacteria are bleach or alcohol. I work around sick people all day, and use alcohol-based hand sanitizer often.

At home it's either a drop of dish soap or the slivers of bath soap recycled into hand soap. No thanks to triclosan!

 

[Shannow]

I think that the widespread use of antibacterials and antibiotics will be what gets us rather than some swine flu money grab.

Every single application of these things leaves a fringe of marginal effectiveness, in which the bugs die, or live...those that live become a little hardier every time.

 

[daves87rs]

Wow.Didn't know that.Now I know....

 

[ctc]

A few problems I have:

1. I don't get my soap related news from the weather channel.
2. It is an article sourced from www.divinecaroline.com.
3. www.divinecaroline.com has user created content. I could write an article there now rebutting it though I have no scientific base to do so.


The author is a freelance writer so at least she has some experience. Check out her profile. http://www.divinecaroline.com/user/profile/120930

I'm not saying that what she wrote isn't true but there's currently no proof either way on most of her claims. She doesn't quote or name any of these scientific experts that back her premise. She names the FDA and AMA but only to say that antibacterial soaps are no better at preventing infection.

I personally don't care what soap you use. What really bothers me more than this pesticide being in soap is that it is some toothpastes like Colgate Total and Crest Prohealth. Check the label and look for triclosa.


Just my 2

 

[Pablo]

That is NOT a reputable source of information.

Mori wrote on this quite frequently during his glory years. ca 2007.

Common sense says you don't need that excrement on your tender parts or even your hands.

 

[d00df00d]

Good call. I've learned about this quite a bit independently, and when I stumbled across the article on Weather.com and thought it was a decent summary of what I had learned, I just posted it without a critical eye on the source.

Here are a couple of WebMD articles on the same topic:

http://www.webmd.com/news/20051020/fda-panel-no-advantage-to-antibacterial-soap
http://www.webmd.com/news/20070817/plain-soap-as-good-as-antibacterial

These ones talk about the possibility of antibacterial resistance. They also have links you can click at the bottom to show the sources they use.

Here's another article that also cites sources:

http://www.infectioncontroltoday.com/hotnews/32h138409.html

 

[d00df00d]

...And here's a link to an article at the Centers for Disease Control's own website that is pretty extensive:

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/eid/vol7no3_supp/levy.htm

 

[ctc]

As with all topics, common sense should be applied.

 

[d00df00d]

I agree with you in principle. But in this case, what constitutes common sense? Apparently, most people think something like this:

- Bacteria can make me sick
- Antibacterial stuff kills bacteria
- Antibacterial soap contains antibacterial stuff
- Antibacterial soap kills bacteria
- Antibacterial soap keeps me from getting sick

It takes a scientific study to show that, for example, antibacterial soap isn't strong enough to kill the bacteria that actually make us sick in anywhere near the time it takes to wash your hands. How could anyone know that without seeking it out?

 

[crw]

As soon as The Weather Channel became the "24/7 climate change channel", I stopped watching.

 

[Colt45ws]

I stopped watching before that. You would think anything east of the Mississippi is vacant with the amount of time they spend on it.

 

[Pablo]

Originally Posted By: Onmo'Eegusee
I stopped watching before that. You would think anything east of the Mississippi is vacant with the amount of time they spend on it.


Did you mean west?

TWC = useless on the west cost

 

[simple_gifts]

Good CDC article; AB soap is a product no consumer I know of actually asked for....

Bacteria digests food in my stomach and makes my septic system run properly.

A German study showed children raised on farms who were involved with swine and bovine caretaking had far less allergies than city kids. These organisms, it appears, are critical to early development of the immune system.

edit: typo

 

[BearZDefect]

I avoid products with triclosan too. Its use is surprisingly widespread. I figure if you kill all the bacteria we get along with then some dangerous bacteria could take their place.

 

[Kestas]

That's not how it works. The problem, as d00df00d said, is that the antibacterial soap kills MOST of the germs. The ones left over now breed into a strain of super germs that are even more resistant to antibacterial treatments. It is this mechanism that - over 50 some years - our drugs have bred germs that are now resistant to all known antibiotics.

 

[BearZDefect]

Thank you for the correction and clarification, Kestas.

I was definitely wrong to say "all the bacteria..." Not a chance of killing all of them with a handwash.

 

[d00df00d]

Yeah, that's the irony. The ones that make us sick (by surviving our saliva and mucus) are the ones that antibacterial soap isn't strong enough to kill...