Those who still believe in these products might find the attached
interesting.
What this does not mention is that for these products to be effective at
reducing bacterial counts they need to be in contact with the skin for at
least one minute. Try putting your hands together and rubbing them as if you
were washing them for 20 seconds. Then consider that you would have had to
rub for three times longer! Who will ever do this? If they did the
consequences of the effect of the cleanser on the skin would soon be
irritant contact dermatitis - and probably allergic contact dermatitis as
well (as the active constituent is almost always a skin sensitiser!).
Furthermore the residual effect of the cleanser will be to reduce the skin's
natural population of bacteria, and as it is these that help create a skin
surface condition hostile to transient micro-organisms, the use of the
anti-bacterial skin cleanser could actually increase the risk of
colonisation of the skin by pathogens which would then be more difficult to
remove.
Chris
Chris Packham
FRSPH, FIIRSM, FInstSMM, MCMI, RSP, MBICSc
EnviroDerm Services
Unit 10, Building 11, The Mews, Mitcheldean, GL17 0SN
Tel: 01386 832 311
Mobile: 07818 035 898
www.enviroderm.co.uk
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