The other week I went to pick up my daughter from her Spanish Club after school and found the classroom half empty. “Oh, yes!” exclaimed the Spanish teacher when I asked why it seemed so quiet, “Half the kids are gone. The stomach flu is everywhere in this school right now!” My own stomach turned at the news. I hate the stomach flu. I hate it when my kids get the stomach flu. Ick.
I went home and scrubbed the bathrooms, kitchen counters and all the other hard surfaces in the home with antibacterial cleaner, mentally pleading with whatever germ causes the stomach flu to go away and leave me and my kids alone. But then it occurred to me – I use antibacterial cleaner all the time. And if we can eventually develop a resistance to antibacterial medication, as several studies support, doesn’t that mean that we could develop a resistance to the antibacterial stuff in cleaners too?
My research first led me to the somewhat surprising news that antibacterial surface cleaners haven’t even been shown to stop the spread of germs any better than non-antibacterial cleaners, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). And I was right – some research has shown that there may actually be a link between the use of antibacterial cleaners and immunity resistance to antibacterial medication.
In 2005, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) officially voted that there was no evidence to support the effectiveness of antibacterial consumer products, including the cleaners that I’ve used so judiciously around my home. This includes antibacterial hand or body soap, which according to the FDA, doesn’t have better germ protection than other consumer products without antibacterial properties.
I found this stunning. Antibacterial cleaners and soaps are everywhere but the news that they don’t really work isn’t spread around nearly as readily. And yet, as a mother I admit that I still somehow feel better when I’m using my antibacterial spray and wipes to clean the house than when I’m just using regular old 409. For some reason, the word “antibacterial” just seems to imply a better level of protection against all those nasty germs, including that awful stomach flu. Can regular household cleaner really protect my kids as well?
The truth is, whether or not antibacterial soaps and cleaners feel somehow superior to me, the scientific evidence points squarely in the other direction. In fact, the overwhelming evidence seems to support the idea that we could actually be increasing our own antibacterial resistance and that of our kids by using all the antibacterial stuff. So it is time for me to toss the antibacterial cleaning supplies and soap and go back to good old soap and water for washing hands, bodies and my house. And hey, as long as it kills those germs, that’s okay with me.