--- 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=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 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=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Health](/section/health/) # FDA Questions Antibacterial Soap Claims 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 bathroomGetty 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"}}]}] ```