A: There is a great deal of evidence that the use of antibacterial soap in the normal household is unnecessary and causes far more harm than good, both to human health and the environment.
Since 2000, the American Medical Association (AMA) has been advising the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to closely monitor and possibly regulate the home use of antimicrobials. At the AMA annual meeting in 2000, Myron Genel, chair of the AMA Council on Scientific Affairs and a Yale University pediatrician, said, Theres no evidence that they do any good and theres reason to suspect that they could contribute to a problem by helping to create antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
And just this past fall, the FDA finally announced that it is considering restricting antibacterial soaps, which its panel of health experts overwhelmingly said have not been proven any more effective than regular soap in preventing infections among average consumers. Actions the FDA could take include changing product labels, restricting marketing claims or pulling the products off the market altogether. The advisory panel told the FDA that consumer products that include bacteria-fighting ingredients should be required to have scientific data proving they prevent infections.
This goes for antibacterial anything.
http://www.naturallifemagazine.com/0602/antibacterial_soap.htm
MANUFACTURERS ARE exploiting people's fears about hygiene with a whole range of expensive anti-bacterial products that may do more harm than good.
Experts believe the overuse of anti-bacterial agents in household products such as washing-up liquids, chopping boards, binliners and kitchen utensils could lead to resistant bacteria, and make people complacent about basic hygiene.
Research today in the science journal Nature confirms these fears. It shows that E.coli, one of the most common causes of food poisoning, could develop resistance to triclosan - a common anti-bacterial agent.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/health-warning-on-dangers-of-antibacterial-cleaners-1084391.html
