Perkins+Will release white paper that recommends avoiding antimicrobial products in buildings

2017-03-02T13:12:00-05:00

Perkins+Will have released a white paper that recommends avoiding including antimicrobial products in buildings. “Antimicrobial building products marketed as ‘healthy’ or beneficial to human health contain ingredients that may have adverse environmental or human health impacts, and alternative products should be considered whenever possible,” it states.

According to their research, antimicrobial products such as paints, door handles, flooring and kitchen countertops could enable the proliferation of so-called 'super bugs', or antibiotic-resistance microbes. They could also contaminate aquatic ecosystems and sometimes include suspected carcinogens such as formaldehyde. Their research echoes the position of the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

From 1994 to 2014 the amount of antimicrobial consumer products in the market has sky-rocketed. Sometimes manufacturers add antimicrobial ingredients to serve as preservatives, while still...

Study finds antibacterial soap no more effective than regular soap

2015-09-17T11:22:00-04:00

Scientists in Korea have discovered that using antibacterial soap when hand-washing is no more effective than using plain soap, according to a paper published today in the Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy... The study examined the effect of triclosan...on bacteria in two ways. The first was to examine the bactericidal effects of triclosan in soaps against all 20 strains, and the second compared the ability of antibacterial and non-antibacterial soap to remove bacteria from human hands...

For related Archinect articles:

Archinect - News

Perkins+Will release white paper that recommends avoiding antimicrobial products in buildings

Study finds antibacterial soap no more effective than regular soap