Since the medical profession went ape over the idea of bacteria as public enemy number one, we’ve been inundated with an anti-bacteria frenzy. Bacteria gets blamed for everything, from the common cold to food poisoning to the bird flu to skin diseases. Armed with the fear of bacteria mindset, a host of chemicals have been invented to combat bacteria, whether it’s on your child’s desk at school or in your hand soap. How did people ever survive without anti-bacterial chemicals?

That brings us to the point: Beware of anti-bacterial soap, because most of it is BAAAD for your health! Remember that anything that goes into your skin ends up INSIDE your body. Soap goes in through your pores and into your bloodstream, so if it contains a dangerous chemical or two, or three, then it’s poisoning you worse than bacteria could do. The first round of advice: Use chemical-free cleaners! And, on your body, use chemical-free soaps!

Also keep in mind that there’s huge profits in chemicals and the sale of anti-bacterial products, so keeping the public scared of germs is a full-time obsession. Just watch television and you’ll notice how many times advertisements use the words “germs” and “bacteria.”

Beware of the ingredients in the products you use, especially triclosan. In addition to contributing to your own ill health, they are also polluting the planet and killing wildlife.

Dr Joseph Mercola says, “The active ingredient in most antibacterial products is triclosan, an antibacterial agent that kills bacteria and inhibits bacterial growth. But not only does triclosan kill bacteria, it also has been shown to kill human cells. Triclosan was introduced into consumer products in 1995, and its use has spread rapidly.”

Dr Stuart Levy, Tufts University School of Medicine,(1) warns:

The recent entry of products containing antibacterial agents into healthy households has escalated from a few dozen products in the mid-1990s to more than 700 today. Antibacterial products were developed and have been successfully used to prevent transmission of disease-causing microorganisms among patients, particularly in hospitals. They are now being added to products used in healthy households, even though an added health benefit has not been demonstrated. Scientists are concerned that the antibacterial agents will select bacteria resistant to them and cross-resistant to antibiotics. Moreover, if they alter a person’s microflora, they may negatively affect the normal maturation of the T helper cell response of the immune system to commensal flora antigens; this change could lead to a greater chance of allergies in children. As with antibiotics, prudent use of these products is urged. Their designated purpose is to protect vulnerable patients.

But the word “vulnerable” is key, for if we are living beings, then we are ALL vulnerable to poisonous chemicals. It’s a fact of biology.

Dr. Levy offers some sound advice: “We exist in the bacterial world, not bacteria in ours. Unfortunately, we believe that we can rid ourselves of bacteria when, in fact, we cannot. Instead, we should “make peace” with them. Although we need to control pathogens when they cause disease, we do not have to engage in a full-fledged “war” against the microbial world. Improved antibiotic use, including shorter treatments and removal of improper usage, will encourage the return of antibiotic-susceptible, commensal flora and return the environment to what it was before the antibiotic/antibacterial onslaught.”

One expert stated, “No longer just for hand soap, the antibacterial agent triclosan is cropping up in an ever-expanding range of consumer products. These days, even socks and toothpaste aim to keep parts of you microbe-free. But research published today on ES&T’s Research ASAP website (DOI: 10.1021/es062227l) by Peter Vikesland and colleagues at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University shows that under normal household conditions, products containing triclosan react with chlorinated water to produce chloroform, a probable carcinogen.” (2)
Sources:

1. Levy, Stuart, Antibacterial Household Products: Cause for Concern, Tufts University School of Medicine, Vol. 7, No. 3
   Supplement, Center for Disease Control, Jun 2001, Presentation from the 2000 Emerging Infectious Diseases Conference in Atlanta, Georgia.
2. Science News – February 28, 2007; American Chemical Society; Household antibacterial products generate chloroform; Environmental Science & Technology online

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