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Asked by ClassHimid to Zoe V, Yumi S, Evelyn M on 26 Mar 2024.
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Zoe Vance answered on 26 Mar 2024:
You might be better off asking someone who works in chemistry or public health, because I’m not sure! But if we’re talking about how well the soap gets rid of germs like bacteria and viruses then washing with normal soap does a fine job as long as you wash for long enough. Soap itself mainly lifts dirt etc. off your hands but it can also break down the membranes on some bacteria and viruses. Some soaps have added antibacterial chemicals but I’m not sure that there’s evidence of these actually performing any better.
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Comments
Mark commented on :
I’m a chemist but this isn’t an area I work in. That said soap is pretty amazing and doesn’t need much improvement – maybe additives like antibacterial or antiviral agents?
I saw a program about the plague recently and in the 1600’s they used to limewash the houses of infected people and studies show that it actually works as an antibacterial.