FLICKR, ARLINGTON COUNTY
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has given consumer soap manufacturers one year to remove 19 common antibacterial agents—including triclosan and triclocarban—from their products. The ban comes after manufacturers failed to present sufficient evidence to the agency that these antibacterial ingredients are safe for long-term daily use or substantially more effective than nonantibacterial soap in preventing illness, according to a press release.
“Consumers may think antibacterial washes are more effective at preventing the spread of germs, but we have no scientific evidence that they are any better than plain soap and water,” Janet Woodcock, director of the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said in the statement. “In fact, some data suggests that antibacterial ingredients may do more harm than good over the ...
