Antibacterial Hand Sanitizers Unnecessary and Risky

Antibacterial Hand Sanitizers Unnecessary and Risky


Written by Jane Sheppard Article permission of Jane Sheppard Healthy Child

Wednesday, 22 September 2010 17:46

Now that we're heading into the "cold and flu season", you may be thinking of stocking up on hand sanitizers, disinfecting sprays and antibacterial wipes to keep germs away from your kids. If so, you may want to re-think this plan since it is in fact unnecessary, and there may be unintended consequences.

Just like overuse of antibiotics, overuse of antibacterial household products can lead to bacteria resistant to antibiotics. In addition, these antibacterial chemicals harm the "good" germs that play an important role in protecting us from infection. And if you go overboard with too much cleanliness, it can disrupt the development of a child's immune system, which depends on germ exposure to mature. This could make your child more susceptible to allergies.

Do these antibacterial products work?

There's no evidence that the products containing these chemicals give us any health benefits or have any effect on viral infectious diseases such as cold or flu.

But they ARE being absorbed into our bodies. And all these chemicals are constantly being washed down the drain, into our lakes, rivers and water supplies.

Dr. Stuart B. Levy, of the Tufts University School of Medicine, warns about antibacterial household products:

"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."

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/eid/vol7no3_supp/levy.htm

The following report from Beyond Pesticides/National Coalition Against the Misuse of Pesticides goes into detail about common antibacterial agents in hundreds of consumer products. There's a list of products containing these chemicals, including toys. Plus they provide alternatives and the proper way to wash hands.

The Ubiquitous Triclosan: A common antibacterial agent exposed

You don't have to kill the germs, just wash them away with a nontoxic soap and water.


Brightly Green
Thanks

Healthy Child

Please leave any comments or links! We look forward to your opinions


Click to join our community! Please Leave a comment and a link to your Blog and or website!