Many of us use antibacterial soap to kill off the germies when we wash our hands, but a new report released by the American Chemical Society found that ingredients in these soaps can harm fetuses.
You may think you're taking the right step to stay healthy and ward off sickness, but in reality it could be a real hazard to pregnant women and their unborn babies.
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There have been past studies that show how antibacterial products actually cause bacterial resistance (so the product might stop being effective after long-term use) and decrease your thyroid hormones. Even the Food and Drug Administration raised an eye brow in regards to the effectiveness of antibacterial soaps and required that manufacturers prove that they aren't harmful and that they're actually better than regular soaps at warding off germs. You shouldn't just take a look through the ingredients in your hand soap, but also all of your cosmetics if you're pregnanct because high levels of the antimicrobial butyl paraben has been linked to shorter smaller birth size for newborns. This latest study shows that the two common ingredients in antimicrobials, triclosan and triclocarban, were present in urine samples taken from pregnant women as well as umbilical cord blood.
That means that if mom was washing up with antibacterial soap the harmful chemicals were also reaching her fetus. You might think that warding off sickness will help you and your unborn child, but isn't it scary to think how manufacturers add these ingredients that can do the exact opposite? Hopefully these new reports will push these companies to think twice about what they put on the shelf and the health damage they're causing unsuspecting consumers. It's also a good eye opener for those of us who take these commercials as truth without digging in a little deeper to see what we're actually bringing into our home and putting into our bodies.
Image via Corbis
