Dishwasher detergents and dozens of products to use on your hands contain disinfectants. Some people wonder if it's safe to ride a bus, use a pay phone, or touch an ATM machine. Feeding these concerns are a lot of busy marketers. The story says that ads portray a dangerous world, seething with microbes. Lysol warns you that germs will move into your new home faster than you can.
Toy companies impregnate products with germ-fighting chemicals.
You can buy antibacterial cloths, towels, sheets, and mops equipped for germ warfare. Billions of bacteria reside on our skin and in our mouths, noses, intestines, and mucous membranes-resident flora, as they are called. Ordinarily, they are not a problem. Some, like intestinal flora, even perform vital functions such as helping to manufacture certain vitamins. However, the single most important thing we can do to prevent the transmission of infectious organisms is to wash our hands often, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.