Does soap actually kill germs like they claim, or does it simply force you to run your hands in water longer in order to rinse off the lather that you put on your hands, resulting in cleaner hands due to longer washing time in water?
1 comment:
Anonymous
said...
Soap does work! I mean, non-antibacterial soap doesn't kill bacteria, but effectively washes away the germs and dirt. Soap is usually amphiphilic, meaning it has a hydrophobic and a hydrophilic portion. When in water, they'll form micelles (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micelle), with the hydrophilic portion pointing outwards to immerse in the aqueous solution and the hydrophobic portions inward, surrounding the germs in these spheres, allowing it to be lifted by the water solution and washed away. This is ordinary soap. Antibacterial soap, on the other hand, actually contain chemical agents that kill the bacterial. These may work in different ways, but usually have something to do with affecting the membrane of the bacteria. Viruses are far more difficult to kill considering they're on the borderline between what's considered life (some don't consider viruses as living organisms). They pretty much just use a "rape, pillage, and plunder" technique that saves them the trouble of having a life. So to prevent infection by a virus like H1N1, it's best to use ordinary soap. Widespread use of antibacterial soap is only going to to increase selection for the strongest mutant bacteria that survive the killing agent, pushing towards development of super-bacteria that we'll have to find new ways to kill. But if you've got a blustering wound and you're at the hospital, best to use antibacterial soap.
So, yes, soap actually works rather than forcing you to wash your hands longer.
1 comment:
Soap does work! I mean, non-antibacterial soap doesn't kill bacteria, but effectively washes away the germs and dirt. Soap is usually amphiphilic, meaning it has a hydrophobic and a hydrophilic portion. When in water, they'll form micelles (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micelle), with the hydrophilic portion pointing outwards to immerse in the aqueous solution and the hydrophobic portions inward, surrounding the germs in these spheres, allowing it to be lifted by the water solution and washed away. This is ordinary soap. Antibacterial soap, on the other hand, actually contain chemical agents that kill the bacterial. These may work in different ways, but usually have something to do with affecting the membrane of the bacteria. Viruses are far more difficult to kill considering they're on the borderline between what's considered life (some don't consider viruses as living organisms). They pretty much just use a "rape, pillage, and plunder" technique that saves them the trouble of having a life. So to prevent infection by a virus like H1N1, it's best to use ordinary soap. Widespread use of antibacterial soap is only going to to increase selection for the strongest mutant bacteria that survive the killing agent, pushing towards development of super-bacteria that we'll have to find new ways to kill. But if you've got a blustering wound and you're at the hospital, best to use antibacterial soap.
So, yes, soap actually works rather than forcing you to wash your hands longer.
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