A link to an NPR story appears below. It says manufacturers will continue to market antibacterial products, but with different chemicals to replace the ones the FDA is banning. Whether those chemicals are any safer is in question, and the FDA has announced a schedule for follow-up.
The general public’s preference for antibacterial soaps and household cleaners has an ignorant angle to it, but for some people it’s also a compulsion. When the impulse to oversanitize your skin or your home is stronger than the concern that you may be creating a new strain of antibiotic-resistant infection, you’ll probably act on impulse and risk the infection thing.
The FDA and manufacturers may go in circles with this forever. The current plan is to allow companies to replace the banned ingredients with lesser known substances, with a promise to review the decision later.
One question: Who controls the research for the mandatory review?
If the replacement ingredients are banned in the next few years, there will be others to replace them. And so on…
