Talk:Antibacterial soap

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'''wikipedia, i wish to know otheppatre B&H chemicals that can disinfrect the skin... please reply to this email: jlmagallano@yahoo.com —Preceding unsigned comment added by 208.113.19.50 (talk) 09:07, 31 July 2007 (UTC)

Note
I don't think it is appropriate to quote Dr. Levy's quote in this article "Dousing everything we touch with antibacterial soaps and taking antibiotic medications at the first sign of a cold can upset the natural balance of microorganisms in and around us, leaving behind only the 'superbugs"

This implies there is a similarity between excessive antibiotic medications (which CAN result in culturing superbugs) and antibacterial soaps to which I know of no research that implies this results in superbugs. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 208.113.19.50 (talk) 02:04, 22 November 2007 (UTC)

Antibacterial soap
in the first sentence of the section titled research, it states that antibacterial soap is not effective against viruses. this should be removed, as antibacterial soap is supposed to kill bacteria, not viruses. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Camo tnt (talk • contribs) 00:36, 3 March 2015 (UTC)

discussing flagged statement in research section for relevance
, thanks for your constructive edits in December 2014. you had flagged a statement in the research section for relevance with the comment "The article is about antibacterial effects, so research related to effects against other organisms may not be relevant" and to "discuss on the talkpage". I agree with the gist of your comment and will put the sentence far down to the end in the section, but not delete (yet).

I think there needs to be a major rewrite of the page (would you like to help?), where research is a small section at the bottom, after a to be created use section and after a missing definition section.

something tells me that the distinction between antibacterial and antmicrobial in soap is, ehem, maybe a little academic for the larger audience. antimicrobial soaps are used against "whatever microbes" to disinfect hands, so the hint "wont work for viruses" may not be bad and may be needed at the end. anyhow as an academic I agree with you. --Wuerzele (talk) 04:54, 27 March 2015 (UTC)

Primary review
Hi all! I've removed a large review from the "Effectiveness" section that was placed there about a decade ago, since it's based entirely on primary sources. I'm replacing it with secondary sources where I can find them. I'm posting it here because it's clearly well-researched and maybe it can be of use to someone trying to improve the article in the future.

Studies have examined the purported benefits of antibacterial soap without clear consensus about the results. Some studies have concluded that simply washing thoroughly with plain soap is sufficient to reduce bacteria and, further, is effective against viruses. Other studies have found that soaps containing antimicrobial active ingredients remove more bacteria than simply washing with plain soap and water. A study by Dr. Elaine Larson of Columbia University's School of Nursing found that the use of antibacterial products had no noticeable effects over a 48-week period. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration published reports that question the use of antibacterial soap and hand sanitizers saying that it found no medical studies that showed a link between a specific consumer antibacterial product and a decline in infection rates.

Stuart Levy, a microbiologist at Tufts University, cited these studies to compare antibacterial action with antibiotic resistance: "Dousing everything we touch with antibacterial soaps and taking antibiotic medications at the first sign of a cold can upset the natural balance of microorganisms in and around us, leaving behind only the 'superbugs'." It has since been shown that the laboratory method used by Levy was not effective in predicting bacterial resistance for biocides like triclosan. At least seven peer-reviewed and published studies have been conducted demonstrating that triclosan is not significantly associated with bacterial resistance over the short term, including one study coauthored by Levy.

Recent research from Levy's lab concludes that "The results from our study do not implicate the use of antibacterial cleaning and hygiene products as an influential factor in carriage of antimicrobial drug-resistant bacteria on the hands of household members." However, a more recent literature review performed by Levy concluded that "The lack of an additional health benefit associated with the use of triclosan-containing consumer soaps over regular soap, coupled with laboratory data demonstrating a potential risk of selecting for drug resistance, warrants further evaluation by governmental regulators regarding antibacterial product claims and advertising." The paper's authors called for continued research in this area.

Hope that helps!Ajpolino (talk) 04:22, 25 October 2017 (UTC)

History
I would like to see more on the history section of the article. It states that antibacterial soaps were used in healthcare and hospital settings. When were these chemicals discovered and when were they put into use?Braydencrismon (talk) 00:31, 13 September 2019 (UTC)

hi — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2600:1700:1D6A:990:95E7:229:2F99:6B63 (talk) 20:02, 8 April 2020 (UTC)