When I first heard the story on the news, I thought "Ha, what a bunch of junk", but reading the article and learning the facts surrounding the subject, I can say I agree with Skelding when she states, "they will have rid the university of a product that at best is unnecessary and at worst might cause more harm than good." Skelding gives statistics connected to the subject that assist in informing the readers about the downside to the use of Antibacterial soap, which contains Triclosan. She explains throughout her article how the use of Triclosan can harm the environment by running into our water system, weakening our immune system to the point where it can cause multiple health problems to our population in the future, and more.
Skelding aims her article towards the general public, to inform them of the issue at hand and the background to why the students at the university are trying to ban this everyday product. She gives facts to backup her argument that the antibacterial soap is harmful. Some may disagree with the decision of the students, as I did at first hearing their choice, but after reading this article Skelding has persuaded me with her article to jump on the wagon with those trying to ban antibacterial soap. If it'll benefit our health in the long run then I'm all for it.
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I first chuckled when I read the title of my classmate's blog, "UT Ban of Antibacterial Soap. I thought to myself, "this will be interesting to read, but it's probably just another way for citizens to complain about something."
After actually reading the blog, I wanted to know more facts about the negative effects of anti-bacterial soap. My classmate's brief blog about the subject made me want more information, so I followed the link on the article they referenced. This was an article called; "Antibacterial soap ban may be timely" written by Laura Skelding in the American Statesman. Now, after reading the Skelding's article and my classmate’s blog, I most definitely agree with banning antibacterial soap.
While my classmate's blog stated a brief explanation as to the negatives of antibacterial soap, it was sufficient information to lure me into the issue and agree to ban this item not only from UT Austin, but also from home and work. Antibacterial soap really has no stronger elements than regular hand soap. So why do we use it? Probably because we see the word "antibacterial" and immediately think it'll clean 10 times better than just regular soap. And that's just an example of how companies can slap a certain word on a product and convince us that's it can work miracles, but that's another story. As my classmate's blog states, antibacterial soap contains something called Triclosan. Although Triclosan is used in many other products and the FDA hasn't seen harm in the product BUT is also still investigating how harmful it can be to us. Using Triclosan too much can make your body immune to it. This also flows into our wastewater and portions of it also flow into our water streams. The FDA hasn't completed its study, but do we really want to keep using this product that can be potentially harmful when frequently used? I don't want to risk any chances. I agree with students in having it banned from schools. Let's also get it banned from work space and homes as well.
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