I started a new job last week, and they have antibacterial handsoap everywhere. Everywhere! I mean, they also have a coffee machine AND a pool outside, so I am totally not dissing them at all (a pool, seriously. A pool. And a coffee machine in a cool outdoor courtyard with park benches and stuff. Awesome) but still, I’m not fond of the antibacterials.

Ah, antibacterials… It feels like they’re all over the place, they’re more insidious than the bacteria they are supposed to be protecting us against! It’s like everything has some antibacterial in them nowadays and it really bugs me! Take this handsoap for instance, it’s moisturising, smells okay, and as an added bonus it’s got drugs in it that will probably kill the native flora living on my hand-skin. Were my hands that bad to begin with? I never had any problem with my hands getting all bacteriafied before, why do I need to use handsoap to get rid of bacteria now? It’s not like I’m working in a hospital or somewhere where I handle food or people, there’s absolutely no need for it.

My mum and I always used to joke when they had ads on TV for kitchen wipes and stuff, that they “kill 99.9% of household germs – leaving 0.1% of resistant germs to multiply and take over the world”. That stuff really concerns me, our antibacterials have to get stronger and stronger the more we use them, right? Because the more we use them, the stronger the bacteria get as well.

Is anyone else worried about this? I’m planning to ask work to switch to a probacterial brand.

UPDATE: Someone at work is recovering from Hep A, so maybe antibacterial soap is a good plan. Actually, what am I saying? Hep A is a virus, right? Well wikipedia says so, and that’s good enough for me. Death to antibacterials!