WEBVTT - BrainStuff Classics: How Dirty Is Soap?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio. Hey

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<v Speaker 1>brain Stuff. Lauren vog Obam here with a classic episode

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<v Speaker 1>from our erstwhile host, Christian Sagar. This is one that

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<v Speaker 1>I wrote in the way back for our YouTube series

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<v Speaker 1>because once the question occurred to me, I couldn't get

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<v Speaker 1>it out of my head. How dirty is soap? Hey

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<v Speaker 1>brain Stuff? It's Christian Sager. It's good hygiene to wash

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<v Speaker 1>your hands after using the restroom and after touching kind

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<v Speaker 1>of gross stuff, you know, like raw meat, snakes, cat litter, cats,

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<v Speaker 1>biomedical waist and any number of shared surfaces from door

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<v Speaker 1>knobs to countertops. But what about soap? Bars of soap

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<v Speaker 1>are also shared surfaces, So how dirty is soap? Soap

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<v Speaker 1>is absolutely seething with bacteria, But you know, so is

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<v Speaker 1>your face, and so so is my face and everything

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<v Speaker 1>we come into contact with all the every day. Really

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<v Speaker 1>organism for organism, microbes outnumber humans on the planet at

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<v Speaker 1>least a hundred and thirty one quintillion to one, Sell

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<v Speaker 1>for sell. The microbes in and on our bodies outnumber

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<v Speaker 1>us ten to one, and human hands can have up

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<v Speaker 1>to one hundred thousand micro organisms per square centimeter of skin.

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<v Speaker 1>Most of them are harmless or you know, even helpful,

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<v Speaker 1>But yeah, there's a lot of them, and some of

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<v Speaker 1>them get transferred to your soap. One study from reported

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<v Speaker 1>that of the bar soaps they tested, two to nine

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<v Speaker 1>percent cultured positive for micro organisms. The antibacterial soap they

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<v Speaker 1>tested actually had a bit more microbial activity than regular soap.

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<v Speaker 1>The soaps in question we're in use by the staff

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<v Speaker 1>of clinics and laboratories over the course of seven days,

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<v Speaker 1>and samples were taken on five of those days. But

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<v Speaker 1>the interesting and come heating part of their results is

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<v Speaker 1>that the microbes didn't build over the course of that week.

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<v Speaker 1>Organisms would appear and disappear with each sample taken, indicating

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<v Speaker 1>one of two things. Either the soaps were somehow self sterilizing,

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<v Speaker 1>possibly due to preservatives they contain that are you know,

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<v Speaker 1>not delicious or downright dastardly to microbes, or the little

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<v Speaker 1>buggers were being mechanically removed during the process of washing,

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<v Speaker 1>meaning that as you wash your hands, you're also washing

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<v Speaker 1>your soap. These results back up a couple of other

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<v Speaker 1>studies about microbes and hand washing, one from x and

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<v Speaker 1>one from the former study had subjects come into their

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<v Speaker 1>lab douse a hand in a vat of bacteria and

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<v Speaker 1>then wash with a bar of soap. The soap was

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<v Speaker 1>tested for the bacteria, then given to another subject to

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<v Speaker 1>assess the transfer of the bacteria. The latter study carefully

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<v Speaker 1>doused bars of soap with ec. Cole I and had

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<v Speaker 1>subjects come in and first sterilize their hands, then wash

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<v Speaker 1>them with this gross soap. The researchers then tested both

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<v Speaker 1>the hands and the soap from microbes. Both of these

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<v Speaker 1>studies found that although bacteria remained on the soaps, none

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<v Speaker 1>transferred to the participant's hands. Now here's the thing to note.

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<v Speaker 1>These studies were done by employees of Procter and Gamble

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<v Speaker 1>and Dial Corporation, respectively, and the first study I mentioned

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<v Speaker 1>that one from that was completed with a grant from

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<v Speaker 1>Minnatonka Incorporated, which was the original maker of soft soap.

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<v Speaker 1>That doesn't necessarily mean their science was bad, though experts

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<v Speaker 1>say there's no evidence to contradict their results. So bar

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<v Speaker 1>soap is not underty, but it's still safe to use

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<v Speaker 1>and way better than not washing. So here's a few

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<v Speaker 1>pro tips. Be sure to dry your hands thoroughly after washing,

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<v Speaker 1>don't wash more often than necessary, that can lead to

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<v Speaker 1>parched skin, which can crack, which can let in microbes.

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<v Speaker 1>You otherwise would have been able to just wash off

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<v Speaker 1>and make sure you store bar soap in a dish

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<v Speaker 1>that lets it drain and dry out between uses. That

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<v Speaker 1>will cut down on any potential bacterial growth. Today's episode

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<v Speaker 1>was written by me and produced by Tyler Clang. Brain

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<v Speaker 1>Stuff is production of iHeart Radio's How Stuff Works. For

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<v Speaker 1>more in this and lots of other clean topics, visit

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<v Speaker 1>our home planet, how stuff Works dot com. Plus for

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<v Speaker 1>more podcasts. For my heart Radio, visit the heart Radio app,

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<v Speaker 1>Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows,