Two Reasons to Quit Buying Antibacterial Soaps

While many parents buy antibacterial soaps believing that they will help their families stay healthy, studies show that washing hands with plain soap and water is just as effective at killing disease-causing germs. With antibacterial liquid hand soaps running twice as much per ounce as liquid hand soaps in my grocery store, this is a change that is easy to make.

If your family is willing and able to use bar soap, you could save even more. Eric Bartels writes a fun column called Sustainable Life, which features this comparison of bar soap and liquid soap, at Liquid Soap v. Bar Soap. With a three- and five-year old, we’ll be sticking with the liquid hand soaps for a while since I know the bar soap would be used as a crayon. Or worse.

It is also unclear how the chemicals in antibacterial soap affect the environment. Triclocarban, a commonly used antibacterial agent, has been shown to persist through wastewater treatments. Research conducted by Johns Hopkins showed that 75 percent of the ingredient that was washed down household drains persisted. Since municipal sludge is commonly used to fertilize crops, accumulation of the chemical may occur.

In addition, studies at the University of Michigan have shown that in the laboratory triclosan, another of the most popular used antibacterial ingredients, can cause antibiotic resistance in some bacteria.

So save yourself some money while reducing the chemical burden on the environment.

Have you discovered other ways to save green while going green? Please share your success stories here!

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