According to a recent report, the plethora of antibacterial soaps, cleaners and detergents may be doing us harm in the long-run. These products are designed, of course, to eliminate bacteria that would otherwise inhibit diseases/conditions like tuberculosis, food poisoning, cholera, pneumonia, strep throat and meningitis - to name a few.

The old school approach is to use products with soap, bleach, alcohol or hydrogen peroxide in them. Alcohol and hydrogen peroxide eliminate all bacteria in its path while leaving no residue because it simply evaporates. Soaps on the other hand lift, trap and carry away the dirt and bacteria. The newer antibacterial products do a more selective cleaning of a given area while leaving a slight reside behind which is meant have a prophylactic effect on a given surface. But what lab tests are revealing is, there is a potential for the residual bacteria (that is exposed to the antibacterial residue) to mutate to a resistant strain. Think of it in terms of a given disease mutating against a given antibiotic.

The other concern is that this residue (most common compounds in cleaners and soaps are something called Triclosan and Triclocarbon) when washed away has the potential of causing problems in the enviorrnment.

Both chemicals are efficiently removed from wastewater in treatment plants but end up getting sequestered in the municipal sludge, which is used as fertilizer for crops, thereby opening a potential pathway for contamination of the food we eat, Halden explains. “We have to realize that the concentrations in agricultural soil are very high,” and this, “along with the presence of pathogens from sewage, could be a recipe for breeding antimicrobial resistance” in the environment, he says.” ~ ScientificAmerican.Com

They already know that these ingredients are prevalent in the enviorrnment because they have found trace amounts in mother’s breast milk which means it’s systemic, meaning it is also in mother’s blood system. Granted, there is no evidence this is harmful to humans, it stills seems unsettling to me that an ingredient known to kill harmful bacteria on my kitchen counter has been found in mother’s milk.

Furthermore, according to the FDA they have found no great benefit over these new antibacterial cleaners over the old ones. The advertising industry has done a wonderful job convincing us otherwise. It needs to be said that these products do serve a purpose but I think it is best to have a better idea of how they work so we can all use them properly and with reserve.

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Scientific Amercian | Sidebar Article