Over the last decade the popularity of soaps and cleaning products claiming to have anti-bacterial properties has mushroomed as consumers are persuaded, by clever marketing, that they offer a defense against household illnesses.
It is a contentious issue and many believe that a number of the products, particularly those that use synthetic chemicals rather than alcohol or bleach, may in fact increase the risk of infection by creating germs that are resistant to antibacterials as well as antibiotics.
Many experts contend that antibacterials are no more effective than regular soap in reducing infections and illnesses.
Unlike anti-bacterial products, regular household soap helps separate bacteria from the skin so they wash down the drain or attach to the hand towel when hands are dried.
Anti-bacterial soap kills the bacteria outright.
As expected manufacturers disagree with many of the critics' claims but both camps can quote studies they say support their viewpoint.
Now it seems a Food and Drug Administration panel of independent experts will debate these concerns in a public hearing.
The Nonprescription Drugs Advisory Committee will consider whether there is evidence that these products pose the long-term hazards, the critics contend.
The committee can then make recommendations on the sales and labeling of these products to the FDA, which ultimately has the authority to restrict availability of such soaps and related items.
However the FDA briefing documents available on the Internet, prior to the meeting, do not indicate that such a ruling is imminent.
Dr. Stuart Levy, president of the Alliance for the Prudent Use of Antibiotics, and a professor of medicine and molecular biology at Tufts University School of Medicine, says such products should be banned for use in healthy households.
He says, they should be used where they are needed, in hospitals and in homes with very sick people who are at greater risk if they get a bacterial infection.
Otherwise, he says there is the risk of changing the kinds of bacteria we confront every day in the home.
Apparently the small percentage of bacteria that survive a brush with the antibacterial product may develop resistance to it, and furthermore, he says, some surviving bacteria may have an improved ability to pump out all threatening substances, including antibiotics used to cure infections.
Those survivors may pass that mutation to their offspring, and the adaptation can come to dominate an entire population of bacteria, creating a resistance.
While Levy says that has happened in lab studies, there's no firm evidence it's happening in households.