Day 36 - Step Away from the Lysol

You could eat off my kitchen floor - trust me, Sebastian does it all the time. I suppose the real questions is: would you want to? To be honest, you'd probably keel over dead while I wouldn't necessarily serve a five course meal off it (the soup would get SO messy), I think you'd probably survive. However, if you've turned on the TV or opened a magazine in the past ten years, you might come away with the impression that you, your children, and your counter tops are teeming with viruses, bacteria, germs, Ebola, etc. Well, that's actually kind of true (except for the Ebola part - I really hope your counter tops are free of Level 5 hot agent viruses). But the real question is: how likely is it that these ickies will actually do you any harm? And might some of them be doing you some good? How clean is too clean?

Turns out, all that hyper-cleaning and sterilizing we've been doing has contributed mightily to antibiotic resistant bacteria, higher rates of childhood allergies, record numbers of autoimmune diseases, and wimpy immune systems. My friend Shannon once quipped that NYC children could probably "lick an anthrax popsicle" (I love this) and not get sick since they're exposed to all sorts of goodies on the subway, etc. When I was in India a few years ago, I watched the locals drinking water right out of the Ganges. Out of the Ganges, people. Can you imagine an immune system powerful enough to defeat what was in that water? I was totally impressed. Then I threw up for the next 24 hours.

Now, I'm not saying there's no place for the occasional use of hand sanitizers or disinfectant - you betta watch me use the Lysol the first time the ankle-biter brings home a poop-n-puke virus. If you live in a home with an immune-compromised person, or if someone is ill, it makes a great deal of sense to try to arrest the spread of germs. But for most of us, using triple-antibiotic ointment on every cut, squishing hand sanitizers between our fingers every few hours, and cleaning with products promising to kill 99.9% of germs are overkill. Basic hand washing with normal soap, house cleaning, and good hygiene will take care of a lot, but still give your immune system something to work on. So, for us it's bye bye heavy duty products, and hello to things like vinegar & lemon juice, and just plain old soap and water. It will be fine. Really. So, to the article in the parenting magazine that suggests that I wipe off my child's toys weekly in a bleach solution, I offer this: what's so wrong with a little dirt? And is it worse than my child mouthing a bleach solution? Get a grip. Eat dirt. It's good for you (and delicious when paired with a robust Merlot).
Now, lest you think I'm making all this up, here are some great articles. Check them out - then step awaaaay from the hand sanitizer.

Center for Disease Control

Grist

NY Times