Four Australian producers are removing certain chemicals from their antibacterial soaps after a ban in the US amid superbug fears.
Woolworths, Aldi, Colgate-Palmolive and Dettol producers Reckitt Benckiser, are removing triclosan and triclocarban from their soap products after the chemicals were among 19 banned by the US Food and Drug Administration in September, the ABC reports.
The FDA said the chemicals, which remain legal in Australia, may be no more effective than ordinary soap and water and could potentially be harmful to health.
The regulator said there was concern among scientists that long term exposure to the chemicals in anti-bacterial soaps could promote antibiotic resistance, disrupt hormones and, potentially, cause cancer in mice.
The ban was welcomed by mircobiologist Professor Liz Harry from Sydney's University of Technology, who said the routine use of anti-bacterial soaps was promoting suberbugs.
"An antibiotic, a drug that you take for infection is the same type of entity that's in an antibacterial soap. They're just different types of chemicals. But they're all called antibacterials," she said.
"Bacterial DNA can encode resistance. On these same pieces of DNA are resistance to things like penicillin and your basic antibiotics … So that whole piece of DNA goes from one bacteria to millions of others on the bathroom floor.
"Then they're all resistant, not just to the antibacterial in your wash, but also an antibiotic. That's where you have a problem."
The professor has warned there will come to a time when antibiotics no longer works and has called for Australian authorities to ban the chemicals.
© Nine Digital Pty Ltd 2016
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