Is Antibacterial Soap All Washed Up?

Oct. 14, 2005 — -- Soap is soap, isn't it? Maybe not. Many people worried about getting sick buy antibacterial soap. It may cost more, but for years the ads have said antibacterial is better.

People believe it. Outside a drugstore, most people we talked to used antibacterial soap. One woman said, "During cold and flu season, I just like to make sure that I'm killing the bacteria."

But does antibacterial soap really make a difference?

We followed some people who get their hands very dirty, workers at New York's Staten Island Zoo. Microbiologist Christine Ginocchio of New York's North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System Laboratories took samples of what was on the workers' hands after a morning of work -- feeding animals, cleaning stalls, gardening and doing administrative tasks.

Then she gave them a lesson on hand-washing technique. Do people really need a lesson in hand washing? Yes, say microbiologists, because few of us do it right.

Here are the steps:

Especially if you're in a public restroom, don't touch any part of the sink with your clean hands. After drying, use your towel to turn off the faucet.

After the lesson, the workers washed. Half used ordinary soap, and the other half used Dial antibacterial, the bestseller. We took a sample of what was now on their hands and allowed the bacteria to grow for three days.

Ginocchio explained that the majority of the bacteria on the workers' hands was "transient bacteria," that is picked up when we touch different surfaces in the environment.

An unscientific comparison after three days showed that both the antibacterial and the regular soap did a good job killing bacteria. "Maybe a little bit more with the antibacterial in this one group versus the non," said Ginocchio.