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General discussion

Anti-bacterial soaps ... yes or no?

Mar 2, 2004 1:01AM PST
March 2 ? One hand may wash the other, but when it comes to preventing illness, you've got to wash both. And using regular soap to do it appears just as effective as using more expensive antibacterial cleanser.

That's according to researchers who followed 238 New York City families for a year and compared illness rates between families given antibacterial soaps, household cleaners, and laundry detergents, and families given comparable products without the antibacterial ingredients. Neither group knew which type of product they were using.

The results, published in the latest issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine, found no significant difference between the two groups in the frequency of such symptoms as fever, cough, diarrhea and vomiting.


http://abcnews.go.com/sections/Living/SciTech/antibacterial_cleansers_040302-1.html

Seems I recall a piece a couple of years ago that said using too much of anti-bacterial cleaners could contribute to the morphing of the super-bugs, but this was not mentioned in the story.

Angeline
click here to email semods4@yahoo.com

Discussion is locked

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Re:Anti-bacterial soaps ... yes or no?
Mar 2, 2004 1:43AM PST

I also read that somewhere. I don't use anti bacterial soap anymore but I still use deodorant soap in the shower. I don't know if that is any better either but in my mind it works.

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Just say no!
Mar 2, 2004 1:59AM PST

I heard the researchers on NPR last night. They also had a soap industry guy on. He said that there was no indication that these soaps were creating super bacteria. Then again, there is no indication that the industry is looking for them.

Save your money.

Dan