Antimicrobial Products May Be Doing More Harm Than Good

Image credit: PixabayThought your antimicrobial soaps were protecting you? Think again, according to findings published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.

The statement, based on the findings of over 200 scientists and medical professionals, details how antimicrobial products are not providing health benefits to consumers. In fact, researchers believe that the products are harmful to both personal health and the environment.

"People think antimicrobial hand soaps offer better protection against illness. But generally, antimicrobial soaps perform no better than plain soap and water," said Barbara Sattler, RN, DrPH, FAAN, environmental health professor at the University of San Francisco.

Although the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently declared that 19 different antimicrobial chemicals—including infamous triclosan and triclocarban—were ineffective, scientists say the FDA's determination doesn’t do enough to protect consumers and the environment.

Although familiar soap brands are using different additives to replace the ingredient, antimicrobials are popping up in everyday products such as paints, flooring, electronics and countertops.

"I was happy that the FDA finally acted to remove these chemicals from soaps. But I was dismayed to discover at my local drugstore that most products now contain substitutes that may be worse," said Arlene Blum, PhD, Executive Director of Green Science Policy Institute.

"Customers may think added antimicrobials are a way to reduce infections, but in most products there is no evidence that they do," said Ted Schettler, MD, MPH, Science Director of the Science and Environmental Health Network.

"Added antimicrobials are marketed as beneficial in building products from countertops to doorknobs and light switches" said Bill Walsh, President of Healthy Building Network, which recently produced a white paper on antimicrobial building products. "Antimicrobial preservatives are useful in certain products like paints, but we found claims about health benefits to be largely invalid." Nevertheless, sales of "antimicrobial" performance products are projected to grow.

"Environmental and human exposures to triclosan and triclocarban are widespread, affecting pregnant women, developing fetuses, and breast-feeding babies," said Rolf Halden, PhD, PE professor of engineering at Arizona State University. "We must develop better alternatives and prevent unneeded exposures to antimicrobial chemicals."