The Case Against Anti-Bacterial Soap

We recently read about the Food and Drug Administration in the United States banning 19 (that's right, 19) ingredients that are commonly found in antibacterial soaps. The recent move, according to Dr. Theresa Michele, director of the FDA's division of non-prescription drug products, affects 2,100 products on the over-the-counter anti-bacterial soap market. These are soaps that many of us use – and liberally pump into the hands of our kids and friends – every day, with the belief that they’ll help protect us from germs and prevent us from becoming sick. In reality, they end up hurting us—and now there’s even more scientific research to prove it.

According to the FDA, 40% of the hand soaps that are currently on the market contain at least one of these 19 now banned ingredients. At least two of these ingredients are known endocrine disruptors that have been linked to reproductive and developmental issues. Here's the full list of the banned ingredients. Take this time to grab one of your own hand soap bottles to see if it contains any of these:

• Cloflucarban;
• Fluorosalan;
• Hexachlorophene;
• Hexylresorcinol;
• Iodophors, which are iodine-containing ingredients;
• Iodine complex, which is ammonium ether sulfate and polyoxyethylene sorbitan monolaurate;
• Iodine complex of phosphate ester of alkylaryloxy polyethylene glycol;
• Nonylphenoxypoly, or ethyleneoxy, ethanoliodine;
• Poloxamer, an iodine complex of Povidone-iodine 5 percent to 10 percent;
• Undecoylium chloride iodine complex;
• Methylbenzethonium chloride;
• Phenol greater than 1.5 percent;
• Phenol less than 1.5 percent;
• Secondary amyltricresols;
• Sodium oxychlorosene;
• Tribromsalan;
• Triclocarban;
• Triclosan, and
• Triple dye.

Not to be taken lightly, manufacturing giants Johnson & Johnson, Procter & Gamble Co. and Colgate-Palmolive Co. are in the process of reformulating their products to delete the most common of the 19 ingredients. “Clearly this is an industry that needed a good, swift kick in the triclosan. It took far too long,” said Ken Cook, the president of the Environmental Working Group, a non-profit environmental research organization. We like you, Ken Cook. And we figure, why keep any of the bad stuff? That's why we developed a naturally scented, ultra-moisturizing hand and body wash that ensures a magical-but-gentle cleanse while still pledging allegiance to the environment—and you.

Plus, you know it’s good stuff when the ingredients are safe enough to eat. Infused with tamanu and coconut oil, which bind together to offer a delicate, refreshing cleanse, your skin is left feeling softer than before. We know that you’re already familiar with the myriad of uses and benefits of coconut oil, but did you know that tamanu oil is a top-line beauty aid in South East Asia and the South Pacific Islands? Celebrated for not only revealing a more youthful complexion, it’s also revered for helping to relieve a number of skin ailments.

Not to mention, on top of infusing all of To112’s natural beauty products with nourishing, holistic ingredients, our team has found a way to charge the entire line with nature’s most celebrated energy: 528 hertz, the sound frequency that resonates love. That means that you can experience the restorative, balancing properties of musical mathematical matrix of creation in the comfort of your own shower.

Now that the FDA has stepped into the fray, you should too. Give your wash-routine a makeover and say goodbye to the chemicals in traditional antibacterial soaps. Your skin will thank you for it. We leave you with a warning, though, that you will become addicted—in the gentlest, most heavenly way, of course.