FDA Bans 19 Chemicals Used In Antibacterial Soaps (nbcnews.com)

The Food and Drug Administration has ordered "antibacterial" ingredients to be removed from consumer soaps, citing a lack of evidence that they are effective in making soap work any better and that the industry has failed to prove they're safe. The banned chemicals include triclosan, triclocarban and 17 others (PDF) typically found in hand and body soaps. Companies have until late next year to remove the ingredients from their products, the FDA said. "Companies will no longer be able to market antibacterial washes with these ingredients because manufacturers did not demonstrate that the ingredients are both safe for long-term daily use and more effective than plain soap and water in preventing illness and the spread of certain infections," the FDA said in a statement. NBC News reports: "In 2013 FDA gave soapmakers a year to show that adding antibacterial chemicals did anything at all to help them kill germs. It made the rule final Friday. The FDA started asking about triclosan in 1978. Environmental groups and some members of Congress have been calling for limits on the use of triclosan. The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) sued and the FDA agreed to do something about triclosan by 2016. There's no proof that triclosan is dangerous to people, but some animal studies suggest high doses can affect the way hormones work in the body. The proposed rule only affects hand soaps and body washes. Triclosan is often used in toothpaste and it's been shown to help kill germs that cause gum disease."

Comments

True soap

[Anonymous Coward]

Saponified oils (real soap) are high enough pH to be antibacterial on their own, most normal soaps nowadays are a small amount of SLS (sodium lauryl sulfate) and gelling agent and are only mildly antibiotic at best. If you want antibiotic soap get some sort of saponified soap, no need to contribute to the overuse of antibiotic agents in our environment that build resistance.

Re:overreach

[Pseudonym]

They may also increase the incidence of food allergies.

Typical Slashdot reaction

[lxs]

Story: FDA approves X
Reaction: Waaah the government puts dangerous chemicals in everything!

Story: FDA bans Y
Reaction: Waaah the government is meddling with our harmless chemicals!

Re:overreach

[Ol Olsoc]

This is just like saying you're "being guilty until you prove yourself innocent "... The FDA should have to prove harm, rather than the soap companies proving effectiveness.

Problem is of course, that some group of folks has used the "starve the beast" approach on the FDA. reductio al fundo

Don't get me wrong, I'm a pro GMO pro vaccine person.

But I am very concerned about the bombardment of chemicals we are hitting ourselves with. Humans have been hammering themselves with some pretty well proven nasty stuff, like estrogen mimics, and other chemicals that are being proven to have a bad effect on humans. I'll note that the estrogen mimics tend to have a worse effect on males, but let's please not turn this into an anti or pro SJW argument.

Meanwhile, make certain your children are getting enough bisphenol A in their diets. After all, manufacturers should be allowed to put anything they damn well please in the things our kids eat and drink from. Then we can find out if its really bad or not. Otherwise they'd have to run tests before they started. That would cost money and piss off the shareholders.