--- title: FDA Questions Antibacterial Soap Claims description: Federal regulators said Monday that antibacterial soap and body wash makers should have to prove their products are effective and safe within one year if... canonical: https://time.com/archive/7134952/fda-questions-antibacterial-soap-claims/ author: TIME Staff article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2013-12-16T16:30:42.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-16T09:48:14.771Z article:section: Health og:title: FDA Questions Antibacterial Soap Claims og:description: Federal regulators said Monday that antibacterial soap and body wash makers should have to prove their products are effective and safe within one year if... og:url: https://time.com/archive/7134952/fda-questions-antibacterial-soap-claims/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta21197db497a5492/698a924409208fdc7542334d/108913616.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5022 og:image:height: 2825 og:image:alt: 108913616 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: FDA Questions Antibacterial Soap Claims twitter:description: Federal regulators said Monday that antibacterial soap and body wash makers should have to prove their products are effective and safe within one year if... twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta21197db497a5492/698a924409208fdc7542334d/108913616.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Health](/section/health/) # FDA Questions Antibacterial Soap Claims > Sponsored content. 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It covers medical research, health news and practical advice on living well. #### Where can I get reliable health news by email? Health Matters is TIME's weekday health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free weekday newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-health-2026q3/newsletters?i=39d0d723-8429-4c5b-85d9-e792f06cf92b&cr=time-nl-health-2026q3-v1) by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) Dec 16, 2013 4:30 PM UTC  Bottle of antibacterial gel in bathroom Bottle of antibacterial gel in bathroom Getty Images/Dorling Kindersley by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) Dec 16, 2013 4:30 PM UTC Federal regulators [said](http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm378542.htm) Monday that antibacterial soap and body wash makers should have to prove their products are effective and safe within one year if they are to continue selling them as marketed. The Food and Drug Administration, in its proposal for a new rule, said in a statement that products like like Henkel AG & Co’s Dial soap could be linked to hormone imbalances and bacterial resistance. It also said there is no proof the products are more effective than washing traditional soap and water. The proposal comes amid a larger FDA review of the active ingredients like triclosan in most antibacterial hand soaps and body washes, which have drawn skepticism from scientists for roughly 40 years, Bloomberg [reports](http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm378542.htm). The new rule, which would still have to go through a 180-day comment period, would not affect alcohol-based hand sanitizers or antibacterial products in health care settings, the FDA said. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/archive/7134952/fda-questions-antibacterial-soap-claims/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/archive/7134952/fda-questions-antibacterial-soap-claims/"},"headline":"FDA Questions Antibacterial Soap Claims","datePublished":"2013-12-16T16:30:42.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-16T09:48:14.771Z","description":"Federal regulators said Monday that antibacterial soap and body wash makers should have to prove their products are effective and safe within one year if...","url":"https://time.com/archive/7134952/fda-questions-antibacterial-soap-claims/","keywords":["Pets","Asthma","allergies","microbiome"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta21197db497a5492/698a924409208fdc7542334d/108913616.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta21197db497a5492/698a924409208fdc7542334d/108913616.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"108913616","caption":"108913616","creditText":"Getty Images/Dorling Kindersley","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/archive/7134952/fda-questions-antibacterial-soap-claims/","name":"FDA Questions Antibacterial Soap Claims"}}]}] ```