New research is showing, like a lot of new research lately, that what we thought was good for us may not be. And could possibly be doing more harm than good.

According to the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases (just a little light reading to have with your morning coffee), researchers from the University of Michigan went back and studied the results of over 27 studies conducted from 1980-2006 on the effectiveness of antibacterial soaps.

They found that soaps containing the commonly used bacteria-killing chemical triclosan, were "no more effective than plain soap at preventing infectious illness symptoms and reducing bacterial levels on the hands." So apparently "antibacterial soap" is just another marketing ploy that went and got itself mainstream. At our expense.

As an added bonus they found "several laboratory studies demonstrated evidence of triclosan-adapted cross-resistance to antibiotics among different species of bacteria." Which translated to normal-person speak means the little buggers are adapting rather than dying, and are becoming resistant to the stuff we developed to kill them.

"Antibacterial" my ass. I'm heading out to buy some old-school soap.