Antibacterial consumer products: How reliable are they?

Media is abuzz with advertisements of multitude of antibacterial products ranging from toothpastes, toilet soaps, and handwashes to disinfectants and cosmetics. While, almost every manufacturer claims that their product has 100% efficiency in eliminating microbes, the truth really is questionable. On 2 September 2016, the Food and Drug Administration of USA, banned 19 compounds used in antibacterial products. These ingredients, as per FDA experts, are not effective as antibacterials as they are claimed to be, and few of them even have adverse effects on humans. India is the largest consumer of such antibacterial products, but is yet to take any regulatory measures against these products. This article focus on the need of creating large scale public awareness about these products. © 2017, Indian Academy of Sciences.