At a time when health concerns are high, anti-bacterial products flow into daily life, from handwashing, cleaning, to clothing disinfectants, air fresheners, as if they were packaged with anti-bacterium “salvation” and could remain intact. As a result, the notion that “the more anti-bacterial products are used, the more healthy” is still prevalent, although this is an area of error that needs to be corrected.
The emergence of antibacterial products was intended to respond to the threat of harmful bacteria. For example, a medical antibacterial hand-washing fluid can quickly eliminate pathogenic micro-organisms such as coli and golden grapes on the killer. In the hospital environment, medical personnel are exposed to patients and use it to effectively disrupt the hand-to-hand transmission of the disease and reduce the risk of cross-infection; home antibacterial cleansing can inhibit the appearance of bacteria in the food kit and protect family diet. The rational use of antibacterial products is indeed beneficial in a given context.
However, over-reliance on anti-bacterial products makes the body not only less healthy, but more dangerous. First, the human body itself is a delicate and complex ecosystem, where a large number of micro-organisms are present in the body, which checks and balances each other and maintains a balance. Normal strains of skin surfaces, such as a natural barrier, prevent invasive alien bacteria, and useful bacteria, such as bipolar bacteria in the intestinal tract, Bacillus lactate, assist in the digestion of food, synthetic vitamins and are involved in the regulation of the immune system. Frequent use of antibacterial products, especially of powerful broad spectrum types, is highly likely to upset this balance. Excessive hand washing, use of antibacterial cleaners in bathing, significant reduction of beneficial fungs in the skin, the introduction of harmful bacteria, the drying, sensitivity, itching and rashes of the skin, and an imbalance in the intestinal herbs, can cause disorders in the digestive system, such as diarrhoea, indigestion, and damage to the normal functioning of the body.
Second, while antibacterial products can suppress or kill some of the bacteria, not all of them can be “spread out in one web”. The long-term and extensive use of the same antibacterial product can also give rise to drug resistance. Bacteria, like the convoluted “presence master”, under constant pressure from anti-bacterial agents, have evolved from individual to anti-bacterial resistance through mutations. These drug-resistant bacteria breed indiscriminately, and when they become infected, the difficulty of treatment rises in a straight line, and the otherwise effective drugs may fail, and the disease continues unabated, with great health risks.
Third, some antibacterial products contain their own harmful components. A number of chemical substances, such as handwashing fluids, trichlorfon in the shower, trichlorfon and trichlorfon, have been found to be likely to interfere with the human internal system and affect normal endocrine processes such as thyroid hormones and sexual hormones, leading to a series of endocrine disorders, such as menstruation and abnormal thyroid functions, which are particularly harmful to specific groups such as pregnant women and children.
To truly protect health, anti-bacterial products need to be seen right. In high-risk areas where bacteria such as hospitals, kitchens, bathrooms are prone to transmission, it is reasonable to use well-targeted antibacterial products, such as chlorine disinfectants to wipe out bacteria after kitchen cutters are used; however, in the ordinary day-to-day environment, demand is met by the use of mild cleaning products. It is essential to maintain good living habits, to wash hands, regularity, balanced diet, and moderate exercise in order to enhance the body’s own immunity and to equip it with “hard power” to resist the disease.
Antibacterial products must never be used as much as possible, and health pathways cannot rely on a single antibacterial method. Emancipating from the false notion of “anti-bacterial supremacy” and following the science of life styles and moderate cleanliness will embrace real health and rejuvenate the body in balance and harmony.
