A poll conducted by Fabrizio, Ward and Associates on behalf of the American Cleaning Institute (ACI) and the Personal Care Products Council has found that 83% consumers in the United States want antibacterial product choices. This poll was conducted in response to a push by special interest groups for the US government to ban the use of antibacterial agents in personal care products.
According to the poll, 74% of American consumers use antibacterial soap (56% use it regularly) and find it to be a useful tool to prevent the spread of germs while preparing meals and caring for babies, as well as in the home, public restrooms, health care settings and schools. In addition, 75% of moms with children would reportedly be “angry” if the government took antibacterial soap off the market and two-thirds of consumers would be upset if the government removed antibacterial soap from the market. Finally, 84% of adults reported not having any health or environmental concerns about antibacterial soap, and 83% of consumers would prefer to have the choice to buy antibacterial soap rather than it being removed it from the market based on alleged health and environmental concerns.
The survey results are available on the ACI's website. The poll sampled 1,000 American adults (age 18+) who were interviewed by telephone from Dec. 5-12, 2010. The error margin for this random probability sample is ±3.1%, at a 95% confidence level. Interviews were conducted with respondents using both landline (N=700) and mobile (N=300) telephones. Survey data was weighted by demographics to match most recent US Census American Community Survey results for age within gender, race/ethnicity, educational attainment and region.
