Triclosan is an effective bacteriostatic ingredient against the spread and threat of most bacteria, and is most commonly and most often used in toothpastes, antiperspirants, body washes, deodorant soaps, deodorants, detergents, dish-washing liquids, cosmetics, anti-microbial creams, lotions and the FAMOUS hand soaps. It is also an additive in plastics, polymers and textiles to add an antibacterial property.

Experiments have shown that Triclosan may not be as effective as it had previously been believed to be. It is known that the more often an antibiotic is used there is a greater possibility for a bacteria to form a resistance to it. Should Triclosan not kill off all of the bacteria, those that survive will have some form of resistance. This occurrence will allow the survivors to grow and breed, creating a species with aresistance to the drug, upholding Darwin's theory of natural selection. Although the claims of the 99.9% bacterial murder are true, that doesn't seem to be the real question. The real question is, are antibacterial agents really necessary?

For our experiment we chose to test the advantages and disadvantages of various soaps, and cleansers, namely water, regular soap and antibacterial soap. We applied raw chicken to our hands and then washed them for a constant time period before taking a swab of each and growing bacteria cultures. We found out that regular soaps and antibacterial soaps don't have a noticeable difference in the amount of bacteria they kill. We concluded that the use of antibacterial soaps is essentially overkill, and a threat to the future of effective antibiotics.

 

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