Representatives of the cleaning product industry said they were “disappointed at the sensational claims.”
The study ignored other explanations for excess weight, such as when solid foods were given and what kinds of foods were eaten by each child, said Richard Sedlak, executive vice president of technical and international affairs for the American Cleaning Institute.
“Based on our scientific and technical review, the assumptions made by the researchers don’t really hold up,” Sedlak told US News and World Report.
Scientists, meanwhile, stand by their research. They collected fecal samples from 757 infants, aged 3 months to 4 months, and asked the babies’ mothers about their use of household cleaners. They then tracked weight gain in the babies to age 3 years.
Antibiotics and antimicrobial agents can alter any person’s gut makeup (microbiome) by killing off certain species of bacteria, which allows room for others to blossom, they say.
The most famous example is clostridium difficile, a bacteria caused by overuse of antibiotics that can lead to life-threatening diarrhea. Kozyrskyj told US News and World Report, “Disinfectant products used very often, weekly or greater, did cause changes to the infants’ gut bacteria. It caused some bacteria to decline and others to increase.”
If you needed an excuse to not clean the house, or at least wait until you can get less harmful cleansers, you’re welcome.