Study About Antibacterial Soap Part I

We live in a world where sensationalized headlines promoting health scares are far more “newsy” than headlines about studies that debunk junk science or reassure us of consumer product safety. In short, good news is often not news.

And while the best part of this story is that a new study does indeed vindicate the safety of antibacterial soap products, I can’t help but take some pleasure in knowing that regular readers of this column won’t be at all surprised by the study result.

Researchers from the University of Michigan, Tufts University and Columbia University studied 224 households to determine whether household use of antibacterial cleaning and hygiene products is an emerging risk factor for the carriage of antibiotic-resistant bacteria (search) on the hands.

The researchers randomly assigned the households to use either antibacterial or non-antibacterial soap and cleaning products for one year. The active ingredient in the antibacterial products was triclosan (search), which has been found to be effective in reducing and controlling bacterial contamination when used properly.
The researchers reported in the October issue of Emerging Infectious Diseases that, “The results from our study do not implicate use of antibacterial cleaning and hygiene products as an influential factor in the carriage of anti-microbial drug-resistant bacteria on the hands of household members.”