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| By Dr. Ronald Hoffman
I’m not always the biggest fan of the Food and Drug Administration. Their efforts to curtail access to supplements are misguided. They miss the boat with drug approvals on medications that subsequently cause injury and death. But, this time, I stand firmly behind FDA’s decision to ban anti-bacterial soaps.
Specifically, the ban extends to 19 ingredients, including triclosan and triclocarban. Triclosan was launched in 1972 and has gone on to be one of the most successful antibacterial agents used in personal care. Originally designed for hospital use, the compounds are now used in more than 2,000 everyday products marketed as antimicrobial, comprising toothpastes, soaps, detergents, carpets, paints, school supplies and even toys.
What could possibly go wrong?
Our preoccupation with germs began with the discovery by 19th Century Hungarian physician Ignaz Semmelweis that infections could be transmitted from patient to patient by doctors’ unclean hands. Widely derided for his prescient views, Semmelweis died heartbroken in an insane asylum at 47. It was not until the latter part of the century that discoveries by Louis Pasteur and Robert Koch demonstrated that germs could transmit disease.
This laid the groundwork for modern advances in sanitation and infection control. Sterilization of instruments and hand-washing with disinfectants became established practices.
Awareness of the hazards posed by germs captured the imagination of the public and spawned generations of “clean freaks.” A contemporary psychiatric condition, dubbed “mysophobia,” reflects the soaring prevalence of obsessive fear of contagion. The home care products industry obligingly responded to Americans’ new-found desire to sterilize their bodies and living spaces with a raft of powerful disinfectants.
While, intuitively, it may seem to make sense to wage total war on germs, there are some good reasons to be concerned about the proliferation of anti-microbial products.
How can you protect yourself and your family in the absence of anti-bacterial products? The FDA laid out the best ways to stave off infections and illnesses:
“Washing with plain soap and running water remains one of the most important steps consumers can take to avoid getting sick and to prevent spreading germs to others,” it recommended in a recent press release. “If soap and water are not available and a consumer uses hand sanitizer instead, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that it be an alcohol-based hand sanitizer that contains at least 60 percent alcohol.”
Remember to keep errant fingers from your nose and eyes. Remove shoes on coming home because they track in many external pathogens. And when sick, don’t be guilty of “presenteeism” at your workplace or school.
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