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Booga-booga…nah, the Boogey Monster probably has no place in your thoughts anymore now that you’re all grown up. But remember when he did scare you many moons ago?
That’s the feeling I get when I think about anti-bacterial products. You may think this is silly. Perhaps, you may even completely disagree with my sentiments.
Anti-bacterial products on the market claim to kill 99.9% of germs and bacteria. They ply their commercials with scenes of sick people in tight spaces [think an ill-looking gentleman in an elevator with a red nose, a handful of Kleenex and sneezing], goopy chicken on a countertop, and even worse in my opinion, a montage of young children putting their toys with super-imposed images of bacteria into their mouths.
Once these commercials are done with scaring you into thinking you need to kill every microbe around you, you’re left with little choice but to round some up, and start spraying your house like mad, right?
On the flip side, we’ve been hearing about these anti-bacterial agents lowering our natural defenses against germ strains. Additional evidence is also showing that the use of these products could also be initiating drug-resistant strains of bacteria.
The most common ingredient in anti-bacterial products is a chemical called Triclosan. Other “ingredients” are Triclocarbon/Trichlorocarbamide, PCMS/Chloroxylenol and Tetrasodium EDTA. Although some say that these “ingredients” are harmless to the environment, there is significant evidence that these active agents are dumped into our water systems. And even though they are supposed to break down in water quickly, Johns Hopkins University research shows that 75% makes it down our drains and PAST sewage treatment plants. It was also found through substantiated research through the University of Minnesota, that when these chemical ingredients are exposed to sunlight within the water, a mild dioxin was created. This “mild dioxin” is also called: “a carcinogenic hormone disruptor that accumulates in the food chain even at low levels” [Ecoholic, Adria Vasil]. Now to throw in the chlorination factor, which much of our drinking water is…this has created an even more toxic form of the pollutant.
On a greater scale of the effect on the environment, if farmers are using sewage sludge to fertilize, Triclosan [and the rest of the nasty ingredients] is used to fertilize the crops that you are eventually buying and eating from. And…these chemicals accumulate within the soil. SCARY.
These is plenty of research for each side of the fence. There are studies that have supported benefits to the use of antibacterial soap. There are other studies that show that washing with plain soap and warm water was just as effective in removing unwanted bacteria. The USDA has published reports finding no link between the use of using anti-bacterial agents and the decline of infection rates. This is enough evidence for me to have made my decision. As well, Tufts University microbiologists found that the over-use of anti-bacterial products and the use of antibiotic medications at the sign of illness can leave us with superbugs, having upset our internal natural balance of microorganisms. They [Tufts] also found “that E. coli that survived being treated with Triclosan became resistant to 7 of 12 antibiotics,” [Ecoholic, Adria Vasil].
Canada is currently looking at this issue, and I hope we follow in British footsteps with the ban of Triclosan.
Again, I will sound like a broken record in saying this, but READ LABELS. I personally steer clear of products with the aforementioned chemicals. We use good old soap and water for washing our hands. We use vinegar and water to clean and a natural disinfectant [natureclean all natural household disinfectant]. Don’t get me wrong…it’s not that I NEVER use hand sanitizers…I use them as I enter and leave a hospital / clinic, I use them upon request of a new mom when I want to cuddle their new precious bundle of joy, and I use it if we are in a pickle: child in desperate need of a snack at the petting zoo after falling into the mud in the goat pit…I would prefer hand sanitizer over goat poop and whatever other crud that could be on the surface of my little guy’s hands.
