“Bunty tera saboon slow hai ? {Bunty is your
soap slow (in killing germs)?}......... This is a catch pharse (or selling
phrase) of an anti-bacterial soap in India. It shows a chubby boy cleaning his
hands with a regular soap and water for a minute to ensure germs are removed because
his mother told him so. The smart girl (let’s call her Pinky) advices Bunty to
use her soap, claiming its kills 99% germs in a 10 SECOND handwash.
Well, South Korean researchers have published a
report that supports the advice of Bunty’s mother. Through experiments, they
have reported that for a regular hand-wash, the combination of a regular soap
and water gives same results as an anti-bacterial soap. The difference if any
is so insignificant that the money spent over anti-bacterial soap just makes it
“too costly”. I wonder what Pinky and her mother are thinking now.
Concept: To check whether anti-bacterial soaps are effective or not. All
tested anti-bacterial soaps had Triclosan (the most widely used antiseptic
agent in soap). The triclosan concentration of 0.3% is the maximum allowed by
law.
Methods: Twenty bacterial strains (proposed by
the US-FDA) were exposed to plain and antibacterial soaps (the same formulation
as plain soap, but containing 0.3% triclosan) for 20 s at 22°C (room
temperature) and 40°C (warm temperature). The temperature and time were
selected to simulate the hand washing conditions and procedures used by
consumers. The decontamination efficacy of plain soap and antibacterial soap
was also examined in vivo: the hands of volunteers were artificially inoculated
with Serratia marcescens.
Results:
a: There was no significant difference in
bactericidal activity between plain soap and antibacterial soap at either test
temperature.
b: Antibacterial soap showed significantly greater bactericidal
effects after 9 h.
c: Although triclosan-containing soap does have
antibacterial activity, the effects are not apparent during the short time required
for hand washing.
Conclusions: Antibacterial soap containing triclosan (0.3%) was no more
effective than plain soap at reducing bacterial contamination when used under
‘real-life’ conditions.
Article Citation: Rhee, M. S.; et.
al. Bactericidal effects of triclosan in soap both in vitro and in vivo. J Antimicrob Chemother 2015. DOI: 10.1093/jac/dkv275
Dear Pinky, you need a soap that goes ON and ON
and ON ................. 9 hour long
