Dirty Soap

A Catch-22 or another example of the news media peddling fear?

From MSNBC...

Soap may not always be as clean as it seems, suggests a new study, which found that every soap dispenser at an elementary school in Ohio was contaminated with bacteria that are known to cause illnesses. When kids washed with the soap, microbe levels on their hands soared.

Researchers went to a nearby elementary school that had a total of 14 open-style refillable soap dispensers. The school's dispensers were never cleaned or sanitized. All were contaminated with potentially harmful bacteria.

Just as in the lab experiment, those who scrubbed with the contaminated soap ended up with 26 times more bacteria on their hands after they washed. But there was an easy solution. The school replaced its dispensers with sealed versions. A year later, they were still contamination-free.

The kinds of bacteria that contaminate soap, particularly in public bathrooms, can cause health problems like rashes, urinary tract infections and eye infections.