Are You Still Using Antibacterial Hand Soap?

26 Aug 2014 | Skincare Recipes

We love our children and we always want the best for them. And so naturally, when parents shop for handsoap, they look out for one with the anti-bacterial label believing that it will keep their children safe. But are kids getting healthier and stronger nowadays? Or do they fall sick easily and more frequently? Why are there emergence of more and more super bugs?

Side Effects Of Antibacterial Hand Soap

Use of antibacterial soap, particularly those with Triclosan and Triclocarban, could have contributed to the growth of drug-resistant bugs. I believe you would agree with me that the bugs are getting stronger and more difficult to fight against nowadays. Why is that so?

Bacteria or bugs evolve to survive. Overtime, they grow to be resistant to our antibacterial and and antibiotics chemicals. Our antibacterial chemicals is created to kill a certain strain of bugs. But once that bug evolved, this chemical is less effective or not effective anymore to kill the new strain. New antibacterial chemicals need to be created. And it could take years to research and come up with the right one, but bugs takes a much shorter time to evolve and multiple.

And also, we have to question, are these antibacterial chemicals safe for us? Triclosan is shown to disrupt the hormones in our body and could lead to a list of health problems. And especially for children, it will affect their growth development. Environmentally, these chemicals also have a negative impact on our aquatic ecosystems.

Sources:
Triclosan exposure modulates estrogen-dependent responses in the female wistar rat.
Triclosan: What The Research Shows

And you will be surprised to know that Triclosan is not only in our antibacterial soap. It is also in our dental products, cosmetics, kitchenware and more.

Alternative To Antibacterial Hand Soap

Safety of antibacterial handsoap has been raised by many over some years. And finally, big companies are phasing out Triclosan in their products. And in May 2014, Minnesota issues ban on antibacterial ingredient.

Avoid any products with the ingredient Triclosan or Triclocarban. In fact, going back to using good old soap and water is still the best. It is safe and effective in removing bacteria.

This laboratory test below shows that using just soap and water to wash your hands for a minute removes most bacteria.

So, let us get back to basic again and use simple soap and water for our hand wash, shall we?

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