Most experts believe that antibacterial toys and similar products offer no appreciable benefit. They will not kill the bacteria resulting from grubby hands or a sneeze.

Most experts believe that antibacterial toys and similar products offer no appreciable benefit. They will not kill the bacteria resulting from grubby hands or a sneeze.

Huge numbers of products, from dish soap to children’s toys, advertise themselves as "antibacterial." Chances are, you pick the antibacterial product to keep yourself and your family healthy.

Even if you don’t consciously seek them out, you may buy antibacterial products simply because of their abundance. In fact, finding a non antibacterial dish or hand soap can sometimes be a challenge.
The word antibacterial does sound safer and more effective. But by buying into the antibacterial trend, you could be robbing yourself and your children of effective drugs in the future.

Overuse of prescribed antibiotics has led to a growth in antibiotic resistance, leaving formerly essential drugs powerless against everything from tuberculosis to childhood ear infections.

Although antibacterial products have not yet resulted in severe antibiotic resistance, they do have the potential to do so. And the fact is that soap and hot water can usually do the job just as well.

Darwin and Antibiotic Resistance
Since the introduction of penicillin during World War II, modern medicine’s arsenal of antibiotics has succeeded in knocking out nearly all dangerous bacterial infections. Their widespread use and efficacy led many patients to believe, however, that antibiotics were the answer to nearly all infections when in fact, antibiotics act only against bacterial infections.

Sinus infections, ear infections, tuberculosis, pneumonia, E coli and salmonella are bacterial infections that are routinely treated with antibiotics.

Over the past 50 years, many patients and concerned parents have developed the habit of demanding antibiotics to treat a variety of ills, including viral infections that antibiotics have no power to beat. The flu and the common cold are examples of viral infections that cannot be treated with antibiotics. In the Western world, approximately half of all antibiotic use is unnecessary.

Antibiotic resistance is a case of Darwin’s theory at its finest. Like all life, bacteria evolve to meet the changing needs of their surroundings. They follow the law of survival of the fittest. When a population of bacteria encounters an antibiotic, some bacteria (those that are resistant to the antibiotic) survive. These bacteria father the next generation, passing on the resistant trait.

When antibiotics are used inappropriately (when, for instance, a patient does not finish the prescribed course, failing to kill all of the bacteria), more resistant bacteria develop, reducing the effectiveness of a particular drug. By using antibiotics in our daily life, even when they are not necessary, we constantly offer bacteria the opportunity to develop resistance. And bacteria have an extremely short lifespan. They can evolve overnight.
Less than one percent of salmonella bacteria were resistant to antibiotics in 1980. By 1996, that number had grown to 34 percent. In parts of China and Russia, 10 percent of tuberculosis strains are drug resistant. And in the United States about 14,000 people die every year as a result of drug resistant infections they acquire in hospitals.

The Role of Household Products
We’ve all heard horror stories about the bacteria living in our kitchens and bathrooms. Isn’t it only natural to do whatever it takes to keep our homes clean?

Antibacterial compounds play the same role in the environment as antibiotics do in our bodies. And, like antibiotics, they can be overused. The problem with antibacterial products is that most people do not see daily use in the kitchen as misuse.

Antibacterial products are important for people with lowered immune systems, like those who have just returned from the hospital. Healthy people, however, do not need the added protection antibacterial products provide. Ordinary soap is designed to loosen bacteria from the surface of objects like plates and counter tops. Rinsing with water will finish the job.

Many soaps and cleansers contain triclosan, an antibacterial agent designed to attack a specific gene in E coli. If the E coli evolve to change just this one gene, they can withstand triclosan, leaving drug resistant E coli all over your counter tops.

But more frightening than that is the fact that this one gene closely resembles a gene in tuberculosis. One of the major antibiotics used to treat tuberculosis attacks only this gene. As a result, bacteria that develop resistance to triclosan could invade tuberculosis, leaving doctors with one less weapon against tuberculosis, a disease already plagued by antibiotic resistance.

Although this particular mutation in E coli has only been observed in the laboratory, there is no reason that it could not develop on your counter top.

Antibacterial Everything
It isn’t only soap manufacturers who have jumped on the antibacterial bandwagon. Sponges, cutting boards, and children’s toys are now commonly produced with the "antibacterial" claim. If you aren’t convinced by the drug resistance argument, it may interest you to know that experts have declared these products essentially useless.
Antibacterial sponges, according to a study conducted by Lysol, do not prevent bacterial buildup. Instead, they only act to prevent the sponge from developing odors.

Many cutting boards and children’s toys do not live up to their claims of preventing germs. The Environmental Protection Agency recently upbraided Hasbro, fining them $125,000 for making misleading claims about the antibacterial effects of its toys.

In fact, most plastics made with antibacterial compounds prevent bacteria from multiplying within the product, not on its surface. Even those products that do contain antibacterial compounds designed to protect their surface are only somewhat effective.

The products will not kill the bacteria resulting from grubby fingers or the occasional sneeze. The EPA told Hasbro that its antibacterial compound did not protect children using the toy. It only protected the toy itself. Like any toy, those that claim to be antibacterial must be washed to prevent bacterial buildup.

The consumer craze for antibacterial products is not supported by scientific research. Most experts believe that these products offer no appreciable benefit while providing an additional potential for antibiotic resistance.

Many people mistakenly believe that new drugs are constantly appearing to replace the old ones. In fact, new antibiotics are difficult to come by. Developing a new antibiotic takes an average of 15 to 20 years. If you or your child has an antibiotic resistant infection, that’s too long.

As a responsible patient and consumer, you can choose not to contribute to the problem. The American Medical Association and the Centers for Disease Control agree that soap and water are all you need.

REFERENCES:
"Antibacterial Overkill," Tufts University Health & Nutrition Letter, October 1998.
"Antibacterial Overkill," American Medical News, July 24, 2000.
"Antibacterial Products," Pediatrics for Parents, May 1999.
"Drug Resistance Threatens to Reverse Medical Progress," Virus Weekly, July 11, 2000.
Beatrice Trum Hunter, "Preventive or Phobic? (Consumer Concerns about Germs)." Consumers' Research Magazine, August 1997.
Timothy F. Kirn, "Antimicrobials in Consumer products, " Family Practice News, July 15, 2000.
Stuart B. Levy, "Antimicrobial Resistance: Bacteria on the Defence: Resistance Stems from Misguided Efforts To Try to Sterilise Our Environment," British Medical Journal, September 5, 1998.
Hanna Rosin, "Don't Touch This: America's Obsession with Germs," The New Republic, November 10, 1997.
Linda Weinberg, "How Overuse of Antibiotics on Farms Threatens Your Health: What to Do," Environmental Nutrition, November 1999.