How Effective Are Antimicrobial Products?

In recent times, antimicrobial products have become all the buzz. The question is, are these products really effective and are they really worth the money?

Although you'll often hear "doctor recommended" in many antibacterial ads for consumer products like soaps, doctors will also at times point out that using an antibacterial soap to kill bacteria is like trying to shoot a fly with a bazooka.

Despite this criticism, consumers feel safer with soaps that in principle at least, go further at attacking bacteria at the microbial level. Enter salesmen that know where there's a belief system, there is also money to be made.

In the case of products like bug sprays, many people don't realize insecticides that are meant to just be applied to spots where a few insects are found actually do little to nothing to prevent or stop an infestation. Nevertheless, savvy manufacturers continue to make these products because they know consumers believe that if they sprayed a few bugs and it effectively put an end to the ones that were seen that it must be working.

The same holds true with antimicrobial products. A calculator that is treated with an antimicrobial agent may be a little less likely to spread germs but is it worth the money? Since you must still wash your hands before eating, the price one pays for a high end calculator that features this protection may not be worth it.

Science has yet to make a conclusive finding on the effectiveness of antimicrobial treated surfaces. Until hard evidence is available to support or refute claims, one might wonder whether it is really worth spending the extra money for products like antimicrobial envelopes. Unlike keyboards and clipboards that have some antibacterial protection, envelopes are usually clean when new and disposed of after the first use making these and similar products, unlikely to be worth the extra investment.

Even more concerning is the fact that Microban(r) treated products containing triclosan have been linked to everything from weakening of the immune system to possibly even birth defects. Although this is just one way a product can be treated for reducing the spreading of bacteria, you have to wonder what was wrong with the old fashioned way. If teaching kids not to put objects in their mouths and using soap, water and sanitizer can kill germs more effectively, maybe technology has gone too far and we're better off without these products.