September 21, 2010

EEEK!



Sooooo there is a.lot of antibacterial products out there. I have always been pretty suspicious of them. See. My mom taught me some very important lessons in cleanliness growing up:

1-Take a shower
2- KEEP YOUR ROOM CLEAN!! (I was never good at this as a teen-ager)
3- Wash your clothes. (Well...she washed my clothes. Learn by example right!)

Smothering my house in antibacterial everything just was not on the list.
I was a pretty healthy kid. So were most of my friends. And so were most of their friends.

So what is the deal? Why are we all so suddenly afraid of germs????

Okay. So if you are in the middle of the woods and you have to you know. "GO" Then please. Use the hand sanitizer. I mean that makes sense.

But why is everyone suddenly wearing it on their belts and purses and using it all the time???
I mean bath and body works is just making bank. Good for them I guess...

So then I decided to go strait to the CDC (Center for Disease Control). They know their stuff. And I found this. I didn't read it all. Just the first couple of paragraphs. But this is what I found most important.

The recent entry of products containing antibacterial agents into healthy households has escalated from a few dozen products in the mid-1990s to more than 700 today. Antibacterial products were developed and have been successfully used to prevent transmission of disease-causing microorganisms among patients, particularly in hospitals. They are now being added to products used in healthy households, even though an added health benefit has not been demonstrated. Scientists are concerned that the antibacterial agents will select bacteria resistant to them and cross-resistant to antibiotics. Moreover, if they alter a person's microflora, they may negatively affect the normal maturation of the T helper cell response of the immune system to commensal flora antigens; this change could lead to a greater chance of allergies in children. As with antibiotics, prudent use of these products is urged. Their designated purpose is to protect vulnerable patients.

Enough said. I could go on forever!!

BTW: I didn't quite understand the word "prudent"


pru·dent/ˈpro͞odnt/

Adjective: Acting with or showing care and thought for the future

Good things don't last forever....

2 comments:

Camille @ Camille's Casa said...

I completely agree. In college we studied a report that showed that kids who grow up on farms (thing dirty cows, pigs, etc.) have fewer allergies and asthma than kids who grow up in "clean" homes using hand sani and antibacterial everything. We need bacteria to function, even to this day the only hand soap I buy is not anti-bacterial, just plain hand soap. Good thoughts! (Now link up somewhere and get more pageviews!)

Caity said...

I've read a lot of green books and they say the same thing. They say a lot of things actually...but I don't remember a lot of it right now. I totally agree with you though. Our country is full of germ obsessed citizens (no offense to anyone). I will be more conscience of the anti-bacterial signs as well.