Household cleaning and disinfecting agents: where is the compromise between cleanliness and health?

In fact, all cleaning agents contain antimicrobial components, it’s just that in some cases they are added for an active effect, and in others they are preservatives — to preserve the cleaning agent itself — so that microbes simply don’t eat your dishwashing liquid.

What happens when we apply a disinfectant? Some microbes really die, but as the manufacturers of one fairly aggressive product wrote, “kills 99.9% of bacteria.”

And what does that 99.9% mean for the microbial world? It means that if you pour such a product, for example, into yogurt, where there were 10 million bacteria in 1 ml, there will remain... 10 thousand in 1 ml — excuse the blunt explanation.

And those that remain will be incredibly angry — believe me!

Other products that apparently do not have a disinfecting effect but contain a preservative won’t do that much harm. But when bacteria “smell” any of its residues, it’s just another reminder that they should be on guard. It’s like scolding a stray dog — it didn’t kill or beat it, but it won’t love you anymore and might think about biting?

There will be no sterility anyway

We will have to accept this. When we kill weaker microorganisms, stronger and more aggressive ones will inevitably settle in their place. There is no data that, for example, soap with an antibacterial effect reduces the risk of infections — as the FDA tells us. And about antibacterial soap suppressing the own microbiota of our hands, there is probably no point in reminding.

But antibiotic-resistant trouble will appear

And this is really terrifying. Because with the plague, no one dies. People die from some Staphylococcus living on each of us, which has been stirred up and has taken to the war path.

Microorganisms adapt incredibly quickly, and they have a whole arsenal to fend off our clumsy attacks. They modify the lipid layer of their membranes, form capsules, synthesize enzymes to neutralize the hostile substance, and when they also activate the efflux system — hide! This is a mechanism where a bacterium simply spits out those undesirable toxic molecules. And once it has learned to do this well, it will similarly deal with antibiotics. Checkmate.

However, it is fair to say that the emergence of cross-resistance is not equally probable for all classes of disinfectants. Here, for example, a study showed that the action of alcohol (both ethyl and isopropyl) did not cause cross-resistance. Therefore, as we wrote earlier, it may not be worth refusing to disinfect your phone, which has been everywhere in a day and plans to lie with you in bed. But that does not mean you should wash your home with alcohol. Besides the fact that it can poison you with its vapors, there are many other significant reasons.

For example —

Allergies, excess weight, lung damage

And this is not only because “this chemical” acts as an irritant. Although this is a significant factor.

When we come into contact with a insufficient amount of microorganisms, our immune system tolerates a lack of experience and begins to malfunction and attack its own.

This is especially relevant for children. After all, to form and mature the immune system, teachers are needed — living in the ground, on plants and animals. And they don’t live on a washed, chlorine-clean floor. There are many interesting studies on this topic, for example, showing that even dishwashing in dishwashers was associated with an increased risk of childhood allergies compared to manual washing, and thus not as thoroughly.

Recent studies have also shown that using disinfectants is associated with the risk of overweight in children because it affects their microbiota.

And after we read this, we cannot help but mention air disinfection, in particular using ultrasonic humidifiers. And this is not just an increased risk of allergic reactions. In 2011, in Korea, more than thirty people died due to lung dysfunction caused by disinfectants in ultrasonic humidifiers. The thing is that from ultrasonic humidifiers the liquid is ejected in a nanometer form and penetrates much deeper into the lungs. In short, it is better not to pour anything extra into your humidifier unless you have strong evidence of the safety of those substances.

Geographic karma

Everything in life comes back. And our cleaning agents and disinfectants, unfortunately, also — to our sewer systems, surface and underground waters — waterworks and wells. Also, disinfectants from wastewater constantly destroy the activated sludge at the Bordnychi treatment plant (in Kyiv) and are one of the reasons antibiotic resistance develops far beyond your home and city.

Conclusions:

It is worth minimizing the use of cleaning agents and disinfectants in your home. You might be surprised, but plain water also cleans the floor wonderfully and can cope with most contaminants;

When choosing cleaning products, read the composition and try to choose products without “antibacterial effect,” “silver nanoparticles,” “active chlorine,” etc. The same goes for personal care products. To avoid confusion, we are not listing possible names — you can easily tell if a substance is a disinfectant simply by googling its name.

May your home always be cozy and not overly sterile! :)