Is anti-bacterial handwash behind rise of superbugs?
SUPERBUGS are becoming stronger thanks to the widespread use of anti-bacterial handwashes, scientists warned yesterday.
Hygiene- obsessed consumers – especially among the young – are ditching traditional soap bars in favour of washes that claim to wipe out germs.
But US researchers have now found close links between the rise of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and a chemical ingredient used in many anti-bacterial washes and cleaning products.
Antibiotic resistance has already resulted in a breed of untreatable superbugs, such as MRSA, which previously effective drugs are useless against.
Experts fear that the overuse of antibiotics is driving a superbug epidemic that will eventually mean common diseases that are currently treatable would become fatal, and could kill more people than cancer by 2050.
In the UK, doctors have been ordered to resist prescribing antibiotics in a bid to halt the rise of superbugs.
However, researchers from the Uni- versity of Oregon found the anti-bacterial agents in handwashes – known as antimicrobials – leave a long-lasting residue on human skin. As skin cells shed, they accumulate on surfaces as dust.
The US study examined dust in a university’s sports building and discovered high levels of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and the common antimicrobial triclosan used in many anti-bacterial products.
The authors said: ‘Unlike antibiotic drugs, antimicrobials leave long-lasting residues and can accumulate in the environment. Triclosan, a commonly used antimicrobial, can promote the development of resistance itself.’
They add that ‘a positive association was observed between the concentration of antimicrobials and the abundance of multiple antibiotic resistance genes’.
As well as triclosan – which is also in some toothpastes – the authors of the paper published in the journal Environmental Science And Technology found many other anti-bacterial chemicals commonly in cosmetics and shampoos.
Dust samples with higher amounts of triclosan also had higher levels of a gene that has been implicated in bacterial resistance to several drugs. They said that although the concentration of triclosan in the dust was small, their findings demonstrate the need to further investigate the role of antimicrobials in the rise of antibiotic resistance.
In the UK some manufacturers such as Unilever have chosen to reduce the use of triclosan and triclocarban in their products. Last week the US Food and Drug Administration banned triclosan and triclocarban after it said there is ‘no scientific evidence they are any better than plain soap and water’ at killing germs. Figures released last month revealed young people aged between 18 and 24 are choosing liquid soap over the old fashioned bars.