Your antibacterial soap may get banned.

[Jimzz]

Do they have any indication that brief, topical application is linked to this? I'm pretty sure they're talking about what happens when it's ingested.

Triclosan is used in toothpaste, deodorants, mouthwash, etc... so yes it will get into your system. Esp since it was being used in more and more items until recently.

 

[Anubis]

i read the thread title and thought it said "alphabet soup" and i got very sad

antibacterial soap i dont care about

 

[SP33Demon]

It's about time. Just use simple Ivory already.

 

[CZroe]

That's a load of pure bullshit right there. Resistance to many things, even with different mechanisms of action, can still be acquired. There are these things called multidrug efflux pumps. Each pump can recognize a wide variety of substrates - be they antibiotics or antiseptic compounds. I've also seen a talk or two about multidrug binding transcriptional regulators - they can bind one or more drugs and the result of binding even one pushes the bacteria to make proteins which can help them to survive.

Once again: Triclosan is not used in any drugs. It is NOT a drug. Why aren't you warning us about the dangers of Listerine-resistant bacteria ravaging us after rendering our antibiotic drugs useless? If you follow that line of reasoningm you really must be one of those people who thinks alcohol, iodine, peroxide, and bleach are creating superbugs. Why aren't you protesting their use? Oh yeah: Because "antibacterial" sounds like "antibiotic" and you confused the two. 🙄

 

[Gibsons]

Once again: Triclosan is not used in any drugs. It is NOT a drug. Why aren't you warning us about the dangers of Listerine-resistant bacteria ravaging us after rendering our antibiotic drugs useless? If you follow that line of reasoningm you really must be one of those people who thinks alcohol, iodine, peroxide, and bleach are creating superbugs. Why aren't you protesting their use? Oh yeah: Because "antibacterial" sounds like "antibiotic" and you confused the two. 🙄

It's a drug. It specifically inhibits bacterial fatty acid synthesis.

 

[Fritzo]

i say bullshit. this stuff has been around for 40+ years and has never been shown tp diectl;y cause a problem. if it did, we would all be dead by now.

You know those chemicals are showing up in EVERYTHING now, and antibacterial soap is contributing to the creation of superbugs.

Regular soap works just fine. There's no need for the antibacterial agents.

 

[crashtestdummy]

A couple thoughts, as someone who works in this field a bit:

Soap is antibacterial. Really. It kills bacterial quite well on its own. In fact, it's better than most antimicrobials because it can break up biofilms, which typical disinfectants struggle with.

Triclosan, when diluted as it often is with soap, is bacteristatic rather than bactericidal. It halts colony growth, but that growth may resume after a time after the triclosan has been washed away.

On the other hand, it's not clear that bacteria that develop resistance to triclosan will be resistant to other antibiotics. The mode of action for triclosan is different than for other antibiotics, so it's likely that bacteria resistant to triclosan will not be resistant to other treatments. While there are mutations that in theory would create resistance to both triclosan and other drugs, in practice there's been no demonstrated link (i.e. making a triclosan-resistant strain, then showing that it's also resistant to other drugs). MRSA, in fact, is generally not resistant to triclosan.

 

[CZroe]

[Bleach i]s a drug. It specifically inhibits bacterial fatty acid synthesis[life by whatever means it uses to kill them].

FTFY. Now it's a great point.

 

[Gibsons]

FTFY. Now it's a great point.

Specificity matters.

 

[SlitheryDee]

I don't even know if my soap is antibacterial or not. I don't care if they ban it if it is. I'm not attached to any particular brand. I wash to get dirt off and "feel" clean. I have no illusions about being bacteria free, and I kind of subscribe to the notion that exposing yourself to common pathogens from time to time is probably beneficial ultimately.

 

[BUTCH1]

This is actually a valid concern. Low-level resistance to triclosan has been demonstrated, and while that is completely different to high-level resistance to the point where it could no longer be used, the studies done to date have been too short-term to exclude this possibility. We have been fortunate in that the antimicrobials that we can use to kill bacteria outside the body, such as povidone, chlorhexidine, and ethanol, have not led to the development of resistance; but given that having a bacterial ecosystem on your skin, for the vast majority of normal people, doesn't produce any harm, I simply fail to see why you would bother using them on a regular basis.

If you're immunocompromised, are regularly around immunocompromised people, are preparing for surgery, or have other risk factors, I can see the reason, and in these people it improves quality of life and survival. But if you have a completely normal immune system and have no impending skin breaks in your immediate future, what benefit do you get from it?


This isn't really true either. The most common skin flora are at most occasionally pathogenic (again, mostly in higher-risk patients), but their main purpose in terms of human health is to competitively exclude the widespread colonisation of far more pathogenic bacteria, such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Group A strep, and Staph aureus.

I read an interesting article by a pediatrician some time ago about kids these days not being exposed to enough dirt. Yes, dirt, his point was it's natural for a crumb-snatcher to be exposed to dirt as part of his/her developing immune system whereas today parents are obsessed with keeping kids clean constantly is actually NOT good for them..

 

[lxskllr]

...and I kind of subscribe to the notion that exposing yourself to common pathogens from time to time is probably beneficial ultimately.

I just heard on the news this morning that a study of households with infants found that people who clean their baby's pacifier off by washing with their mouths have children with fewer allergies. That's opposed to the people who sterilize their kid's objects.

 

[Jaskalas]

I stand by regular soap. That other crap irritates my skin, creates a terrible itch.

 

[Brainonska511]

FTFY. Now it's a great point.

A general oxidizer != a molecule that targets something more specifically.

 

[Mr. Pedantic]

I read an interesting article by a pediatrician some time ago about kids these days not being exposed to enough dirt. Yes, dirt, his point was it's natural for a crumb-snatcher to be exposed to dirt as part of his/her developing immune system whereas today parents are obsessed with keeping kids clean constantly is actually NOT good for them..

The hygiene hypothesis is one of a number of competing theories about why the incidence of allergies and autoimmune reactions is increasing. It's popular, especially in the lay press because it appeals to a number of fallacious ideas about "back in the day" and "kids being kids" and "tiger moms".

 

[SphinxnihpS]

I prefer to deny the reality that every square inch of surface area on this rock is coated with living things.

 

[SphinxnihpS]

Not to mention Asbestos was tucked away, so we are not exposed to it. Chances are if you're in a really old house you are probably surrounded by it. IMO asbestos danger is overrated. Wear a mask if handling it and perhaps get it wet a bit to keep dust down but you don't need to turn the house into an ET scene lol. I'm equaly as cautions with fiberglass insulation. That stuff will really choke you up if you don't wear a mask yet you don't see people freaking out over it's dangers.

Everyone breathes asbestos every day.

If you work in a Navy shipyard removing insulation from WWII ships all day every day for years, then it may cause problems.

 

[Howard]

Once again: Triclosan is not used in any drugs. It is NOT a drug.

Strange because I work at a place where our triclosan-containing products are regulated by Health Canada and the FDA and at least one label must have a Drug Facts section. Triclosan is specifically listed, on its own (in the case of products containing more drugs than just triclosan), in this section.

 

[sdifox]

I prefer to deny the reality that every square inch of surface area on this rock is coated with living things.

Lulz, I am picturing bacteria sitting around campfire singing kumbaya.

 

[shortylickens]

Yesterday at the grocery store I noticed a buttload of new Dial soaps.

None of them had triclosan. Whether the shit is bad or not, they are getting too much bad press.

 

[palemale]

they need to ban triclosan, its a dioxin
a monsanto product.
registered at the EPA too, because of how toxic it is.

 

[BUTCH1]

The hygiene hypothesis is one of a number of competing theories about why the incidence of allergies and autoimmune reactions is increasing. It's popular, especially in the lay press because it appeals to a number of fallacious ideas about "back in the day" and "kids being kids" and "tiger moms".

Well, toddlers learning to walk naturally wind up...in the dirt, ask all of the native Hawaiians what happened when European people mingled among them, being isolated on an island their immune systems were never exposed to pathogens that Europeans had been exposed to and had been born with an ability to defend against, such as the plague. No antibiotics back then, your immune system was strong enough or ward off the offender or you died, nature, culling out the weakest. In a way by saving so many lives with antibiotics we've inadvertently created a "weaker" version of human. I had Scarlett fever as a child, of course treatment with modern drugs meant I was in little danger, before antibiotics I would have been in considerable danger..

 

[Howard]

they need to ban triclosan, its a dioxin
a monsanto product.
registered at the EPA too, because of how toxic it is.

lame

 

[Oldgamer]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/02/triclosan-safety-antibacterial-soap-safe-fda_n_3202847.html

Of course they've been threatening to ban it for years.


As for me: I stink like a dirty wet dog. If they kill my Dial, I'll need to bathe in pool bleach.

Quote from the article: Recent studies of triclosan in animals have led scientists to worry that it could increase the risk of infertility, early puberty and other hormone-related problems in humans

Do they know how many other products as well as medications people use that do almost the same things as what they are sayin?

 

[pmv]

The hygiene hypothesis is one of a number of competing theories about why the incidence of allergies and autoimmune reactions is increasing. It's popular, especially in the lay press because it appeals to a number of fallacious ideas about "back in the day" and "kids being kids" and "tiger moms".

I think most people are aware that its a theory but not definitively proven or universally accepted. As far as I am aware, however, it hasn't been disproven either.
Perhaps, though, its popular simply because its both plausible and easy to understand? Whether its true or not, its pretty easy to grasp the general concept that your immune system is going to react more strongly to something if it hasn't encountered it early in life.

I don't think "tiger moms" have anything to do with it, as the theory has been widespread in my country for decades and yet most people here - self included - have never heard of the term "tiger mom". (Do tigers use a lot of antibacterial products then? Are big cats generally known for being very pernickety about hygiene?)