Store shelves are lined with cleaners shouting ?antibacterial kills 99% of bacteria?. The public is convinced that they must use cleaning products that contain antibacterial properties to clean their homes and in their personal hygiene. However, the use of antibacterial products can be detrimental to you, your family's health and the environment.

A report on the Center for Disease (CDC) website stated ?no evidence suggests that there is evidence that the use of antibacterial soap containing 0.2% triclosan (active ingredient in antibacterial cleaning products) provides a benefit over plain soap in reducing bacterial counts and rate of infectious symptoms in generally healthy persons in the household setting.? Plain soap and water, in other words, gets rid of the majority of germs that linger on the hands and body?.

Additionally, another study concluded that there was no difference in infectious disease symptoms over a one year period in 228 inner city households using antibacterial cleaning products and those products that did not contain antibacterial agents. These findings further highlight the need to educate consumers on the limitations of antibacterial cleaning products.

The use of these so called antibacterial cleaning products claims to kill 99% of bacteria. However what becomes of the remaining 1%. This 1% remaining becomes the super germ. The overuse of antibacterial cleaning products breeds stronger and stronger organisms and thus less resistance to cleaning agents.

Furthermore, in order for antibacterial products to really remove 99% of bacteria, the cleaning agent should be left on the area which is being cleaned for at least two minutes for it to be effective. Most people do not have the patience to properly use antibacterial cleaning products.

Our bodies have an immune system to fight off bacteria, germs and virus. When we continually fight germs and bacteria with antibacterial cleaners we are hindering our immune system to naturally fight off these germs and viruses. Thus are immune system is continually weakened.

In Scientific American journal, it states ?It appears that after, say, spraying a counter with an antibiotic cleaner, some chemicals linger and continue to kill bacteria but don't get all of them. The ones that survive develop a tolerance: ?What doesn't kill you makes you stronger? Soon we have populations of antibiotic resistant bacteria.

?What is this stuff doing in households when we have soaps?? asks molecular biologist John Gustafson of New Mexico State University in Las Cruces. These substances really belong in hospitals and clinics, not in the homes of healthy people.?

In June of 2000, the World Health Organization warned that antibacterial products directly contribute to the rise in antibiotic-resistant bacteria. The American Medical Association (AMA) says ?(bacterial) resistance ascribed to overuse of antibiotics is a growing problem, and there is concern that some types of infections will eventually not be treatable with antibiotics?.

On June 13, 2000, the AMA advised consumers to avoid extensive use of ?antibacterial soaps, lotions, and other household products?. The AMA has also urged the Food and Drug Administration to increase regulation of antibacterial products.

So next time you purchase that antibacterial cleaning product keep in mind that they are hindering your natural immune system, and these products are very detrimental to the environment.