The American population is obsessed with germs. Although relatively few people are unfortunate enough to suffer from OCD, a more pervasive subclinical paranoia persists in our psyche which manifests as our culture of cleanliness. During daytime television it is almost impossible to go through an entire commercial break without seeing an ad for cleaning products such as soaps, air sanitizers, detergents, or other various cleaning paraphernalia. Additionally, more and more of these products are emerging with some form of antimicrobial, antibacterial, or bacteriostatic chemical included to “stay tough on germs.” One such example is the chemical triclosan, although there are several others with similar issues. Read more →