Safety of Antibacterial Soaps

Researchers have questioned the safety of triclosan, a chemical found in many of the antibacterial soaps and hand wash we commonly use everyday, to reduce the presence of germs and make it a safe environment.

The safety of antibacterial body wash was evaluated for its effectiveness and more so to check if it can cause any harm.

Studies conducted on animals have shown that it can elevate the risk of hormone problems and the same can be expected in humans. The US FDA is on an exercise to verify the use of antibacterial soaps in humans.

It may not be known that many of these chemicals have never actually received the formal approval by U.S. health regulators. This is also because germ-killing chemicals were developed many years ago and at that time such laws needing scientific review of cleaning ingredients were not in place.

In the 1978 draft where FDA published its first guidelines for chemicals used in liquid hand soaps and washes, it said that triclosan was not thought to be safe. Regulators were unable to find adequate scientific research to prove its safety and effectiveness.

Source: Medindia

Tags: featured

Category: Education, Features