Herb Cochley
1 min readFeb 19, 2020

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Years ago I did a science project. E. coli bacteria in a petri dish, exposed to ultraviolet light. Most die. Occasionally a single colony on a big petri dish would survive. Guess what? If they were spread on a new petri dish and exposed, most of those would live. Genetic mutations. My project won a ribbon.

Basically antibacterial hand soaps do the same thing. If they don’t kill 100%, then you are making mutations immune to the soap. Which is why we have so many resistant DANGEROUS, disease-causing bacteria that are immune to antibiotics. Not from hand soap, but from their having survived previous antibiotic treatments.

Soap and water are still the best way to clean your hands. Far and away.

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Herb Cochley
Herb Cochley

Written by Herb Cochley

Old engineer who keeps working because I have this weird belief that I still do good in the world. Floridian.

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