Introduction
Table of contents Abstract Introduction Procedure Results Conclusion Bibliography Acknowledgments Project Information
Introduction
Certain types of bacteria may cause illness in humans. Washing your hands with soap is a major preventative against illnesses.Antibacterial soap versus regular soap, which kills bacteria more effectively? For my project I am going to compare two sorts of soap. I'm going to discover which soap grows more bacteria than the other.
I chose this project because I want to really prove once and for all if antibacterial soap is more effective then regular soap, or is it all a marketing ploy for the consumer to buy that particular product?
My goal is to compare the amount of bacteria growth on the plates when my hands come in contact with a surface loaded with germs.
I will start by rubbing my hands on a dog for 10 seconds so bacteria will attach onto my hands, then I will swab my hands, then plate it without washing my hands. I'll do the same thing for the next step, except I will wash with soap for 10 seconds and then plate. I'll do this process several times using different soaps. I will leave the plates out for twenty-four hours and count all the colonies, I will do the same after forty-eight hours and seventy-two hours.
2000 thousands years ago we didn't have soaps like we do have these days, to clean themselves people used blocks of clay, sand, ashes and oils. In 1878, soap was invented which they called "White Soap" which people used to wash themselves, a year later Harley Procter one day made a new soap which people started using. The inventors of antibacterial soap are Joshi, David.P and Divone, Peter A. They patented the antibacterial soap December 25, 1984.
My hypothesis will conclude that antibacterial soap will destroy the majority of germs grown through my experiment because of the specific chemical in the antibacterial soap called Triclosan.
Bacteria consists of one cell, which divides and multiplies. They are impossible to see with your bare eyes. When using a microscope, you view only microscopic dots. There are many types of bacteria. They live everywhere, some places you would ever imagine. On each square centimeter of your skin you have more then 100.000 bacteria. The good bacteria can prevent diseases.
Scientists claim that antibacterial soap kills 9.99% of germs of your hands. How? Triclosan. Triclosan is an antibacterial chemical. Triclosan is a distinctive bacteria that works to disturb the function of the bacteria. There are bacteria in your body that are very important but the chemicals that are in this soap kill both the bad and the good. It kills almost all your good bacteria when washing your hands, which is when the bad bacteria takes over, and gives you a bigger chance of getting sick, and breaking down your immune system. There are pros and cons to using antibacterial soap.
Regular soap is made from salts of animals and vegetable fats. Regular soap doesn't have that specific ingredient that kills germs like antibacterial soap. When washing your hands with regular soap it doesn't kill the bacteria it lifts the dirt of your hands and rinses away when you use water. Bacteria can be left behind this way, that's why antibacterial soap is always recommended.
"Antibacterial soaps remove 97 percent of bacteria on hands, while regular soaps remove 95 percent."
-http://virtual.clemson.edu/groups/FieldOps/Cgs/soaps.htm
-Clemson University
