Wash your hands regularly

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, Americans spend nearly $1 billion each year on antimicrobial products, typified by the antimicrobial hand wash with the active ingredient, triclosan.

This obsession with killing germs could ultimately do more harm than good, according to scientists and public health experts.

The Alliance for the Prudent Use of Antibiotics (APUA) has questioned the use of antibacterial ingredients to household products although there has been no proven added benefit.

This use in household products may lead to weakened immune systems and the greater chance of allergies in children. It may also be a possible link to the emergence of antibiotic resistance — such as the advent of the methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, bacteria.

Over decades of mass-marketing, consumers have come to believe that the use of antimicrobial products reduces or kills germs that make them sick. According to a market research firm, 71 percent of adults prefer to use these germ-killing products.

For many consumers, plain old soap and water is no longer enough.

The APUA microbiologists and other scientists acknowledge that the chemicals in antibacterial products do kill bacteria, but there is no reliable evidence that they are doing any good. In addition, people often use antibacterial products to wipe telephones and doorknobs for fear of flu and the common cold — illnesses caused by viruses and against which antibacterial products do not work at all.

* A 2004 study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine randomly divided 228 households into two groups: one group used regular soap, and the other antimicrobial soap. There was no difference at all between the two groups in the incidence of fever, sore throat, vomiting, diarrhea, cough, runny nose and pinkeye.

* In 2005, an advisory panel to the Food and Drug Administration concluded (in an 11-1 vote) that antibacterial soaps and washes are not more effective at keeping people healthy than ordinary soap and water.

But the real issue is no longer whether the products do any good. The more important concern is whether they are doing harm.

* An infectious disease specialist says there is growing evidence that the chemicals used in antimicrobial products may be causing bacteria to develop resistance to common antibiotics. While the phenomenon has been observed so far only in laboratories, scientists fear it can eventually happen outside.

* Other scientists fear that a germ-free environment at home may actually result in weakened immune systems. A number of studies have shown that the development of allergies, asthma and skin problems in children is linked to their having been raised in household environments that are too sterile.

* Environmental scientists are also finding evidence that the triclosan and triclocarban in antimicrobial products have reached the ecosystem, where they are causing reactions that form toxic dioxins harmful to aquatic life.

Safety Tip: If you are worried about MRSA, E. coli, flu or the common cold, you should wash your hands regularly and thoroughly. The fact is: regular soap and water are enough.