"Keep in mind that antibacterial soap is no more effective at killing germs than is regular soap."

“Keep in mind that antibacterial soap is no more effective at killing germs than is regular soap. Using antibacterial soap may even lead to the development of bacteria that are resistant to the product’s antimicrobial agents — making it harder to kill these germs in the future.” -The Mayo Clinic

Ummm… no for real, that’s what the Mayo Clinic said about antibacterial soap. Here’s the link.

Antibacterial soaps usually use an ingredient called triclosan.  The FDA is looking into its safety further because animal studies have shown that triclosan alters hormone regulation. Other countries, including the members of European Union, have banned or restricted use of the chemical. Given the rapidly developing scientific database for triclosan, the EPA intends to accelerate the schedule for the registration review process for it. Currently, the EPA intends to begin that process in 2013, ten years earlier than originally planned. That’s a good thing, I suppose. In the meantime, while they think about looking into it, my daughter will age two more years, from two to four. Pretty formative years.

The University of Michigan’s School of Public Health found that triclosan showed a positive association with allergy or hay fever diagnosis. In children, higher levels of triclosan found in urine were associated with greater odds of having been diagnosed with allergies or hay fever. They seem to think that triclosan may negatively affect human immune function.  Here’s a link to that study.

Apparently everybody in charge seems to think we need to do more studies soon to look into all of these findings.

I don’t know about you, I’m not waiting on them to tell us that the triclosan in antibacterial soaps is dangerous. Especially, given that the Mayo Clinic apparently sees no point in using it anyway.

Spread this message around. Below is a button. You can share it on facebook, twitter, and all sorts of other sites. Just because a product is available doesn’t mean we have to use it.