Antibacterial Soap is dangerous?!?

MrsG1019

My mom just called freaking out about a news story she saw saying pregnant women are to avoid antibacterial hand soaps as it contains two chemicals known to cause low birth weight ...

I swear.. Pretty soon pregnant women are gonna be put in a giant bubble for duration of their pregnancy. Here's an article I found with more info. What are your thoughts?

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2721751/Pregnant-women-warned-not-use-antibacterial-soaps-fears-chemicals-affect-babies-development.html

minibean16

Huh. Paging @lissydee‌ Fact or fiction?

CrisDee

I avoid it as a matter of course... I feel things that are 99.9% good at killing bacteria just make the 0.1% stronger at becoming resistant.

MrsG1019

What's interesting is that the article says:

"Triclosan and triclocarban are used in more than 2,000 everyday products marketed as antimicrobial, including toothpastes, soaps, detergents, carpets, paints, school supplies and toys."

So that rules out soooooo many other products we are surrounded by/use. This one (for me) goes in the same bucket as sushi, sandwich meat, coffee etc. There are much bigger things to be worried about.

AnnieRoo13

lissydee said:

I use it regularly at work, on a L&D unit.  so yeah...

Have I told you lately that I love you?

minibean16

lissydee said:

I use it regularly at work, on a L&D unit.  so yeah...

See, this is what I thought. Thanks.

lizzielu82

I think this is only a risk for moms in the UK since it's being reported by The Daily Mail. All good North American Mamas!  :-bd

MrsG1019

Thanks @lissydee‌!! I think the health risks that antibacterial soaps/products prevent are worse than the chemicals that may or may not be in them.

ssstephanie214

my mom just texted me about this and she NEVER does things like that. why so paranoid mom. 

i read on TB about avoiding sodium lauryl sulfate .... that shit is in everything 

MrsG1019

The below article also adds that the same two chemicals are said to effect nursing babies.. & there are several articles/studies that were done back in 2007-2008 warning of the same risks. Seems like all of a sudden the dust that had settled over this one, just got kicked back up .. And news stations are reporting it as if they've found out something new. Oye..

https://www.forbes.com/sites/melaniehaiken/2013/06/28/chemical-in-antibacterial-soaps-may-harm-nursing-babies/

absolutelymaybe

How I feel about NEWBREAKINGNEWSZOMG studies that say _________ is dangerous for pregnant women*...

I'll defer to anyone who has an actual medical opinion on this, but that's just my initial reaction to the story.

*ETA: This same reaction applies to 99% of new breaking news stories that say ________ causes cancer/obesity/heart attacks/anxiety/syphillis, etc.

CPM13

We've actually tried to minimize our exposure to triclosan for a few years now. Maybe I just bought into the hype, but I certainly haven't been getting sicker since we stopped using it. 

Bandia12

This made me laugh! 

Amen @shaddox16 ! 

PandaCon

CPM13 said: We've actually tried to minimize our exposure to triclosan for a few years now. Maybe I just bought into the hype, but I certainly haven't been getting sicker since we stopped using it. 


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I have been minimizing Triclosan too.  It is in everything though. I started be aware of it because of my cousin-in-law. Her dad had a heart condition and surgery and all this stuff and was told by his doctor to avoid it because it can contribute to something. 

Since then I have avoided it but am not super paranoid about it. 

jac409

I don't use it all the time at home because I think it is a good thing to allow the body to build up some immunities. However, I do use it after handling something like raw chicken. I am also pretty anal about wiping off the shopping cart handles with those antibacterial wipes, especially with DD in the cart. Maybe that's weird, I don't know.

moroccojade

Regular soap and water do the trick just fine.

Even mainstream companies like BBW are taking triclosan out of their products. 

PandaCon

My state actually passed a law/statute thingy (pretty technical right?) that triclosan won't be sold or manufactured here any more. (Minnesota)

Melissa2216

CPM13 said:

We've actually tried to minimize our exposure to triclosan for a few years now. Maybe I just bought into the hype, but I certainly haven't been getting sicker since we stopped using it. 

This for me as well. When I was pregnant with DS, I learned a lot about natural/green cleaning and purged my house of most of harmful chemicals. We are a triclosan-free household and primarily use Method hand soap or anything else that is environmentally friendly, not tested on animals, etc. I don't freak out if any of us are exposed to triclosan outside of the home, but I personally don't buy products that contain it.

mander82

Haha.... And I am here taking an extra amount of time washing my hands really well and more often because I really don't want to catch a cold while I am pregnant.

phdprocrastinator

CPM13 said:

We've actually tried to minimize our exposure to triclosan for a few years now. Maybe I just bought into the hype, but I certainly haven't been getting sicker since we stopped using it. 

Yeah, I thought everyone knew that antibac soap was not worth it.  Maybe I've been around the bump too long.  Generally, we don't use it for long enough for it to matter (hopefully you do wash your hands for longer in hospitals) and the chemicals that cause antibac have been found to be harmful for a variety of reasons.  

I thought there were even campaigns to take antibac soaps off the market... and they may be off the market in some European countries (I could be wrong about this).

rshamos

D14 lurker here and microbiologist. Triclosan is soooooo bad! It is a leading cause of antibiotic resistant bacteria. If you want to use hand sanitizer, use one with alcohol as the main ingredient, not triclosan. Triclosan is also hidden in anti-bac dish soaps, so check the labels. I used to work at BBW while I was in school and I would cringe every time someone bought there anti-bac soaps. **Creeping back to the shadows**

hiketheworld

I just read the article. I stand by current research. We can use something for years before we realize it isn't as safe as we thought. Regular soap kills germs just fine so why not avoid antibacterial soap if it contains harmful chemicals?

MalachiteDrake

Yay! My cheapo hand sanitizer uses alcohol, not triclosan (I just checked). I had to switch at the start of my pregnancy because I started developing contact dermatitis every time I washed my hands with soap.