Recently, we have been seeing many reports on the news about the effects of using antibacterial soaps and hand cleaners. they are very handy I must say. Could they be giving us a false sense of safety and health? In my previous post I talked about the extremes of anti-hygiene that were experienced in the middle ages. Have we gone to the other extreme? Is there such a thing as being too clean? Although my skin crawls to say this, but, yes, I think there is a such thing as being too clean.
Much like the natural intestinal flora that we carry in our bowels there must be such a thing as “good” or beneficial bacteria in our environments as well. There has been a surge of cases of asthma and allergies among young people in recent years. Scientists and doctors have attributed that to not enough “dirt time”; no playing outside, using antibacterial everything and being trapped indoors 90% of our days. They believe that by playing outdoors may help children build an immunity and resistance to common bacteria and maybe even callous their systems to common allergens.
I noticed when I was about 25 that I started experiencing seasonal allergies. Though they were mild, they were still annoying. Finally, I narrowed it down to the fact that I didn’t go outside as much anymore. The previous 7 years had either been spent in a classroom, in and office or in the house – using antibacterial solutions to clean and dissinfect my surroundings. Whenever the weather is nice I try to go outside as much as possible. Now with a little girl at my side I want her to enjoy the outdoors. I grew up with a city girl for a mom so I really never appreciated our country home until I was in my late teens.
Antibacterial is handy, but there is nothing like some regular soap, hot water and a good long scrub to get the majority of yucky bacteria and smells off our hands.
Firstly, I’m a mom and wife. Professionally, IT consulting is my job and blogging is the outlet for my passions. I write about things that affect the everyday life of a stay-at-home parent or any parent for that matter such as parenting, relationships, discipline, the media, product reviews, giveaways, social media, food, cooking, gardening and anything else that might come my way.
