A new study reveals that regular soap is just as effective as antibacterial soap in cleansing dirt from your hands.
The shocking news was discovered by the scientists from Korea who found out that the key ingredient in antiseptic soaps called Triclosan functions similarly to the ingredients in plain soaps. This conclusion was proven through a series of lab tests examining over-the-counter soaps.
Though they observed that Triclosan is truly effective in killing germs, plain soap also does the same thing. Factors like the amount of time people spend in washing their hands is among the aspects considered before drawing the aforementioned conclusion.
This was confirmed by Min Suk Rhee, one of the authors of the study and is also a professor in the department of biotechnology and the department of food bioscience and technology at the College of Life Sciences and Biotechnology at Korea University in Seoul.
"[The] antiseptic effect of Triclosan depends on its exposure concentration and time."
Rhee tested this theory by exposing 20 different strains of bacteria to an antiseptic soap containing 0.3 percent Triclosan which is the standard amount present in soaps. The same bacteria were also exposed to a regular soap for 20 seconds which the usual time people spend in washing their hands.
Based on their observations, the amount of bacteria killed by two different soaps are almost the same. There was no significant difference in the number of germs killed between the two products.
"Antibacterial activities of triclosan have been well documented. However, its risk remains controversial since various adverse effects have been reported, including allergen, antibiotic resistance, carcinogenic impurities and bioaccumulation," the professor stated.
To further prove the initial results of their study, Rhee and his team tested 16 individuals to use two different soaps, one is antiseptic and the other is regular. Again, the same result was observed and that is almost the same amount bacteria were removed from the subjects' hands.
"Our study indicates there was no significant difference in antiseptic effects between antibacterial and regular soaps," Rhee concluded.
