The FDA said manufacturers have 1 year to phase out or reformulate their products without the banned ingredients.
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It’s official; store shelves will be scrubbed clean of antibacterial hand and body soaps that contain certain ingredients.
In fact, the US Food and Drug Administration have now given companies a year to take anti-bacterial ingredients out of their products, otherwise they will not be able to sell them anymore.
The FDA rule finalizes a proposal put forth in 2013. In the case of triclosan, regulators said they didn’t receive either human or animal studies showing the drug is safe or effective.
While more research is needed to determine triclosan’s safety in small doses, studies so far have shown that there’s no real advantage.
Triclosan is now in so many products that research has found it was washing down drains and building up in lakes and streams.
FDA spokeswoman Andrea Fischer and Brian Sansoni, of the American Cleaning Institute, which represents multiple cleaning products companies, were unable to identify the products most affected by Friday’s ruling.
Manufacturers have one year to comply with the ban, although the FDA noted that many have already started phasing out triclosan, triclocarban and other active ingredients. “If the product makes antibacterial claims, chances are pretty good it contains one of these ingredients”, Theresa Michele, the FDA’s director of the Division of Nonprescription Drug Products, told reporters.
Nor does the rule apply to three additional ingredients used in such products – benzalkonium chloride, benzethonium chloride and chloroxylenol.
The FDA ban is only the latest in a debate about the effectiveness of antibacterial soaps that has been ongoing for years. “Washing the hands with an antiseptic soap can help reduce the risk of infection beyond that provided by washing with non-antibacterial soap and water”. The research even suggested antibacterial soaps could lead to the increase of risky drug-resistant bacteria.
Originally used in hospitals, triclosan entered the market in the 1960s.
“If you use these products because you think they protect you more than soap and water, that’s not correct”.
Handwashing with soap and water, though, is critical, the FDA stressed. On social media, many welcomed the news with open arms.
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The new rule does not affect consumer hand sanitizers or wipes, or antibacterial products used in health care settings.
