除菌肥皂效果不及普通肥皂?

Many of us choose antibacterial soap thinking we are taking extra measures to protect ourselves from germs.

不少人在洗手時會用除菌皁，認爲這能提供額外保護，是我們應對細菌的有效措施。

But now, a study has found it is no more effective than plain soap at killing bacteria.

但目前一項研究發現，它的除菌效果其實並不比普通肥皂好。

Millions of consumers in the US use antibacterial hand soap and body wash products, spending nearly $1 billion annually, researchers said.

研究人員表示，全美境內有幾百萬人會選購除菌洗手皁和身體清潔用品，每年花費於此的金額約十億美金。

In the UK, the soap, bath and shower market, which includes both anti-bacterial and plain soap, was worth 638 million euros in 2014, according to Mintel.

市場調查公司英敏特稱，全英國境內，肥皂（包括除菌皁和普通皁）和各類沐浴用品市場在2014年市場價值約爲6.38億英鎊。

The expectation is that antibacterial products will provide more protection from germs than plain soap, the researchers continued.

研究人員還補充道，顧客對於除菌產品的期望是：此類用品要優於普通肥皂，能爲他們提供更好的保護，免於細菌的傷害。

However, their study revealed there is 'no significant' difference between antibacterial soap and the normal type.

然而，他們的研究表明，除菌皁和普通肥皂其實並沒有“顯著”區別。

Korean scientists examined the effect of triclosan, the active antiseptic ingredient most commonly used in these types of soaps.

三氯生是此類肥皂中最常見的活性除菌原料，來自韓國的科學家做了實驗來檢驗三氯生的除菌效果。

They examined how effectively the ingredient killed bacteria, testing it against 20 strains.

實驗檢驗了此原料面對20多類細菌，殺菌能力到底有多強。

They added triclosan to bacteria warmed to 22°C (room temperature) and 40°C (warm temperature) for 20 seconds, to recreate the conditions under which humans normally wash their hands.

他們在22度的細菌培養皿（室內溫度）和40度的細菌培養皿（暖和的溫度）內加入三氯生，並等待20秒，來重現人們洗手的場景。

They used a triclosan concentration of 0.3 percent - the maximum allowed by law.

他們使用的是濃度爲0.3%的三氯生，爲法定最高濃度。

They found triclosan had killed significantly more bacteria after nine hours or more, but not during the short time required for hand washing.

他們後來發現，在等待九個多小時以後，三氯生的殺菌效果非常卓越，但洗手的短暫時間仍不足以殺死細菌。

Then, they compared the ability of antibacterial and non-antibacterial soap to remove bacteria from human hands, by using 16 healthy adult volunteers.

然後，他們通過16位健康成人志願者的參與協助，再次比較除菌皁和普通肥皂去除手上細菌的能力。

They found it was no more effective, both experiments indicating that there is 'no significant difference' between the effects of plain soap and antibacterial soap when used under ‘real life’ conditions, they concluded.

他們最後總結道，結果表明除菌皁不比普通皁有效，所有的實驗結果都證明這兩種肥皂在“日常生活”中並沒有“顯著區別”。

The paper's lead author, Dr Min-Suk Rhee, of Korea University, said 'advertisement and consumer belief regarding the effectiveness of antibacterial soaps needs to be addressed.'

高麗大學的李敏碩博士是本論文的第一作者，他表示，“關於除菌皁的能力，廣告的錯誤引導和消費者扭曲的認知都需要改改了。”