“Soap and water and common sense are the best disinfectants.”
– Sir William Osler, M.D., “the father of modern medicine”
I was both amused and distressed as I watched a 20-something mom hastily pull a bottle of hand sanitizer from her purse and squirt some on her baby’s pudgy paws.
Until then, I was merely entertained as I sat in a park sipping coffee and watching the kid crawl toward a concrete dog watering bowl attached to a fountain. He had grasped the edge of the bowl and pulled himself up to peer inside when his mom whisked him away and initiated the emergency treatment.
“It’s good for his immune system,” I ventured to comment, thinking of how exposure to germs builds antibodies in children.
“Oh, but we don’t know what dogs have been at this fountain,” his mom responded as she smushed an “antibacterial” towelette into his face.
True enough, I thought. Maybe one of the dogs carried rabies. Of course, antibacterial products won’t affect rabies, a viral disease, which in any case is transmitted when the infected animal’s saliva directly enters the recipient’s blood stream – by biting.
But why spoil a well-intended medical intervention with facts?
While there is only a slim chance that the mom’s apparently incessant attempts to repress bacteria will make her kid safer, I mused, there is a very good chance it will make him neurotic.
Unfortunately, it could also make him dead. This could happen in one of three ways:
Chemicals in many over-the-counter antibacterial products – hand “sanitizing” sprays and gels, hand soaps and wipes – can affect his endocrine and immune systems and have even been connected to cancer.
The overuse of antibacterial products can weaken his immune system, making him susceptible to preventable diseases.
He could fall prey to one of the many “superbugs,” bacteria that have evolved to be unaffected by our antibiotics – partly because of our excessive and sloppy use of antibacterial products.
(Note that alcohol-based hand sanitizers are relatively safe for you and the environment, if they are used sparingly so they don’t lower your resistance to disease. Ideally, use them only when you’ve clearly been exposed to dangerous bacteria and can’t readily wash your hands. They must contain at least 60 percent alcohol to be effective, and unlike hand washing, they are ineffective against viruses you pick up by, say, shaking the hand of someone with a cold.)
The primary chemical culprit that makes many antibacterial products potentially dangerous is “triclosan,” which is also found in personal-care products such as body wash, shampoo, acne medication and even toothpaste. (Triclosan is used in liquid products, while a related chemical – triclocarban – is used in bar soaps.)
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has warned that rather than protecting us against disease, ongoing exposure to triclosan can cause or contribute to a variety of health problems. “Some data suggests that long-term exposure to ... triclosan ... could pose health risks, such as (reduced) bacterial resistance or hormonal effects,” the FDA said in December 2013.
That statement was included in a notice issued to pharmaceutical and hygiene-product manufactures that the FDA could soon require them to prove that the use of triclosan products is more effective in preventing disease than washing with plain soap and water. Meanwhile, in May 2014, Minnesota passed a law banning all products containing triclosan.
But while triclosan could be on its way out, other chemicals such as parabens, which can cause similar problems, and numerous unregulated fragrances are also used in “antibacterial” and other hygiene products. Unless the industry becomes properly regulated, your safest bet is to read and understand the product labels and avoid suspicious substances.
Which brings us to the environment, which is more difficult to avoid than risky products. Each year, 2 million Americans get infections that can’t be treated by antibiotics: 23,000 of them die, and the numbers are rising. While some of these diseases are picked up in hospitals and clinics, which are working on the problem, others come from a variety of unpredictable sources such as shared computer keyboards.
There’s only one safe and generally effective antidote: Using plain soap and water, wash your hands frequently and thoroughly when you’re out and about and at your ecological house.
Philip S. Wenz, who grew up in Durango and Boulder, now lives in Corvallis, Ore., where he teaches and writes about environmental issues. Reach him via email through his website, www.your-ecological-house.com.
