In our anti-bacterial society, what will be the cumulative effect on all our babies ...?

Question

...who have been constantly exposed to lysol, windex, febreeze, etc?

Immunity debate aside, do any of you worry about chemical exposure or carcinogenic issues? It seems their young skin would allow these substances to leech into their bloodstream?

Answer 1

We will not be more immune to diseases!!! I am studying to be a clinical laboratory scientist- in my senior year, and we have discussed this MANY times. The cumulative effect will be a higher rate of allergies and colds. People are not letting their children be exposed to things and therefor they cannot build up immunity. It is important to be exposed to these things at an early age to "get used" to them. It is not as if your child will die when exposed to a cold, dust, grass, pollen.... (possibly in an extreme isolated case death may occur, but it is very unlikely.)

Answer 2

I don't think that this has anything to do with how women are viewed in society. It has always existed from the earliest peep shows to modern day streaming video. The difference between then and now is that there is no clear cut line. In 1807 it was understood that the women involved in those activities, while serving an important function, belonged to a certain demographic and their actions were no reflection on average women. In the age of "girls gone wild" not so much. I was watching a morning show recently and they were discussing the modesty movement. It really surprised me that the male anchor was all for it but the female anchor repeatedly stressed that the 15 year old wearing shorts with a 3 inch inseam (if that) and the tank top looked "cute" while kind of taking the "modest" woman to task for being judgmental and implying that her modesty was a result of low self-esteem. Mind you, the modest woman wasn't covered in 3/4 of cloth, she was wearing a tasteful wrap dress. In short, I think that (sorry to break rank girls) women are more of the problem than men at this point. The problem wasn't with the pictures or the shows of old and it's not with the professional actors now. The problem arose when average women decided that they were going to let it all hang out and not just in the media but in the streets as well. When average women decided to post shameful images on myspace and have their own streaming videos live and direct from their very own bedrooms. This, more than anything, has shifted the perception of women in this country.

Answer 3

I'm a child of the 60's. We weren't raised at all like kids are today. We didn't worry as much, or about as many things. We played in the dirt and dug up worms, played in the creek and fished for crawdads barehanded. We picked up loose change we found on the street. We visited public toilets that didn't even provide protective toilet seat covers. We drank out of public fountains, and even shared a bottle of coke with a friend or two. We were exposed to all sorts of germs. Speaking for me, here, I'm a very healthy person. I very rarely get sick with anything. Why?.....I think I was able to build up a tolerance to those things. I see people all the time who are so totally "germ-conscious" they won't even open a restroom door without using a paper towel or something. And these people are constantly sick, sneezing, have "allergy" issues.....and I think it's because they are protecting themselves to the point they aren't allowing themselves to build those immunities.

I think all those anti-bacterial things are good up to a point. They keep our home environments clean and happy places. But if one becomes obsessed with over use of them, they can do more harm than good.

Answer 4

I think the cumulative effect would be that our children will lack immunities to common germs that they will encounter almost every day in the outside world.

A pediatrician once told me that if I boiled all the bottles and sterilized everything the baby comes into contact with or overdressed her everytime we went out then she would never build up any immunities.

In some circumtances it is good to clean/sterilize certain things (toys sick children have played with, etc.) but not everything needs to be sterilized. As you know, the world outside the house isn't sterile!

Answer 5

I know this is gross generalizing, but I have noticed that in the US a lot of people (especially parents) seem to be totally obsessed with hygiene, and disinfecting thing.
Of course it is nice to keep things clean and tidy, but sterile? In Europe (we) seem to be somewhat more relaxed about all this, and I don't think we are any unhealthier for it. Actually, I think that being exposed to some of these things helps build your immune system.

Answer 6

They will be sickly. Poor things. I am going to let my children play in the mud and roll around on the floor without a blanket. I am going to let them play with unboiled toys. I am going to let them do all the stuff I did when I was a kid.

Answer 7

mandatory life sentence in a Federal Prision, just for breathing

Answer 8

i never used any of that crap and my daughter rarely gets sick because she has a proper immune system.

Answer 9

people will follow them around and smell them

Answer 10

We will be more immune to diseases.