Overly Zealous Cleaning Can Backfire

By Nancy K. Crevier

When it comes to grub and grime, forget about the trash can. Home sweet home harbors a lot more top spots for germs to lurk. According to a recent Hygiene Council survey at webmd.com, the most likely places people pick up germs are in the bathroom or kitchen. Cleaning rags, kitchen drains, toilet bowls, tubs, and pet bowls harbor plenty of bacteria, as do counter tops, toys, light switches, remote controls, and computer keyboards.

Feeding right into America’s health concerns, marketing has convinced people that the way to combat these nasty germs around the home is to fight back with antibacterial soaps and cleaning products. But Newtown resident Katja Pieragostini wonders if antibacterial cleaners might be a case of the cure being worse than the ailment.

Ms Pieragostini, a biology major with a master’s in pharmacology, mother of an 11-month-old baby, and a member of ROOTs of Newtown, an environmental group, believes that not only are antibacterial soaps and cleaners unnecessary, that they are harmful to the environment and may add to the increase in germ-resistant bacterias. Ms Pierogastini has most recently worked as a consultant to a small company near Hartford, developing an instrument and method for detection of biothreat agents such as anthrax, ricin, and Ebola.

“Seventy-five percent of all liquid hand soaps and almost 30 percent of bar soaps sold are antibacterial,” said Ms Pieragostini. When people wash their hands or wipe down their counters with products containing triclosan, the active ingredient in most antibacterials, she said, most do not think about where the residue is ending up. “If one thinks where it all goes after it has been washed away — into the sewers, wastewater treatment facilities, the ground — it can remain and bioaccumulate in our waters and environment for years to come,” she said. As a member of ROOTS, she wants Newtown residents to be aware that while there has been no such evidence collected concerning Newtown water systems thus far, that prevention is key to preventing bioaccumulation from occurring.

Septic systems could be impacted due to the impairment of microbial activity from antibacterial substances that make their way into the system, said Ms Pieragostini, according to information she received from James Belden, president of the Pootatuck Watershed Association and Trout Unlimited.

Contacted by The Bee, Mr Belden said that so far as he is aware, there is no specific study looking at the impact of antibacterials in Newtown water sources, “but this is something that is occurring nationwide. If antibacterial content becomes a large portion of waste stream out of a home, it can impact the septic system,” he added.

When waste water is inundated by antimicrobials, Mr Belden explained, good bacteria that helps a septic system function optimally is killed, making the system less efficient. A less efficient septic system means that more contaminants potentially are leached into the groundwater. “Our groundwater here in Newtown starts very close to the surface,” said Mr Belden.

Homeowners who use antibacterial products also need to know that home septic design is old, said Mr Belden. “Septic design is still based upon a society that does not use antibacterial products and other chemicals that get into the system,” he said.

While antibacterial waste is only one small part of the whole picture of possible septic and water quality impacts, Mr Belden noted that it is all of the little things that add up to problems. “There really never is just one smoking gun,” he said.

Using antibacterial cleaners does not guarantee a healthier home, either, Ms Pieragostini said, and scientists and doctors have known this for years. A March 2004 Annals of Internal Medicine study, she said, “summarized that those who used antibacterial cleansers regularly were no healthier than those who didn’t; they still had the same amount and degree of cold symptoms.”

The reason behind this, and one that is frequently overlooked by the zealous housekeeper, is that viruses, not bacteria, cause many common illnesses. Antibacterial products provide a false sense of security against germs, she said. “In addition, parents should not demand antibiotics just because their child is sick with a cold. Let’s leave antibiotics for when kids and adults absolutely need them, and it’s known that the attributing cause of illness is bacterial,” Ms Pieragostini. She fears that the collective, populationwide overuse of antibacterial products means that gentler antibiotics will no longer be effective against illnesses as more drug-resistant strains of bacteria develop.

“The concern is that bacteriostats [found in antibacterial soaps] are making the stronger, more deadly strains of bacteria more resistant to antibiotics,” she said. Antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria mean that therapies for infections can be less effective and require far more treatment than would normally have been required.

However, a report posted on the The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website found that antibacterial household product use over one year did not lead to an increase in antimicrobial drug resistance, although it did suggest that further study on the long-term use of products with triclosan is warranted. The study also stated that “no evidence suggests that use of antibacterial soap containing 0.2% triclosan provides a benefit over plain soap in reducing bacterial counts and rate of infectious symptoms in generally healthy persons in the household setting.” Plain soap and water, in other words, gets rid of the majority of germs that linger on the hands and body.

The CDC recommends rubbing well-soaped hands together for 20 seconds to clean them — that is the time it takes to sing “Happy Birthday” through twice. Rinse hands well and dry hands using a paper towel or air dryer.

The CDC also suggests the use of alcohol-based gels when soap and water are not available.

It may take a bit of searching to find a soap on the shelf that is free of triclosan, said Ms Peiragostini. “The options for consumers are slim,” she said, and she has taken to requesting stores to stock more of the nonantibacterial, natural products. “Consumers need to demand more options,” she said.