California AB 916: The Safer Soap Act

In February of 2025, California Assemblymember Alex Lee introduced Assembly Bill 916, the Safer Soap Act, to ban the sale of over-the-counter hand soaps and body washes containing three problematic antimicrobials: benzalkonium chloride, benzethonium chloride, and chloroxylenol. On top of their health and environmental hazards, these soaps have no benefit over plain soap in preventing illness. This common-sense legislation will protect people, especially children and immunocompromised, from washing their hands and bodies with unnecessary chemicals that are harmful and can contribute to antimicrobial resistance.  

Background

In 2016 the FDA issued a final rule banning 19 antimicrobials from consumer antiseptic washes, concluding they were neither safe nor effective. However, at the request of manufacturers, the FDA deferred rulemaking for one year on benzalkonium chloride, benzethonium chloride, and chloroxylenol. The FDA has extended this deferral several more times and has still not reached a decision nearly nine years later. AB 916 allows California to fill this regulatory vacuum.  

Evidence for Health Harms Has Grown

During the FDA’s delay, evidence of the health hazards linked to these ingredients (including their potential contributions to antimicrobial resistance) has increased.

• Quaternary ammonium compounds including benzalkonium chloride and benzethonium chloride have been linked to reproductive effects like reduced fertility, respiratory conditions like asthma, and skin problems like dermatitis. New research also links these chemicals to neurological harms.
• Chloroxylenol is an organohalogen compound and a potential hormone disruptor.  Human studies are limited, but studies in rats have shown significant reduction in testosterone and estradiol levels and studies in fish show neurotoxicity. Most well-studied organohalogens have been found to be harmful to people, ecosystems, and especially to children.
• Studies suggest that exposure of bacteria to these chemicals can result in an increase in antimicrobial resistance, both to the chemicals themselves and clinically relevant antibiotics. For example, a substantial body of evidence points to quaternary ammonium compounds as exacerbating resistance in pathogens of concern like Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Chloroxylenol at environmental concentrations has been shown to significantly enhance the conjugative transfer of antimicrobial resistance genes between bacterial species.

Antibacterial Soap Has No Benefit Over Regular Soap

Both the FDA and CDC say that soaps with these chemicals are no more effective in preventing disease than non-antibacterial soap and water and discourage their use due to serious public health and environmental concerns.

• According to the FDA, “currently there isn’t sufficient evidence to show that over-the-counter (OTC) antibacterial soaps are better at preventing illness than washing with plain soap and water.” “What should consumers do? Wash your hands with plain soap and water,” the agency advises.
• “Using these products might give people a false sense of security,” said an FDA representative in the same consumer update.
• According to the CDC, “[t]o date, studies have shown that there is no added health benefit for consumers (this does not include professionals in the healthcare setting) using soaps containing antibacterial ingredients compared with using plain soap.”

Support for the Safer Soap Act

The bill is co-sponsored by Children Now and Women’s Voices for the Earth. So far, it has been endorsed by more than 20 other public health and environmental organizations, including NRDC, Breast Cancer Prevention Partners, Clean Water Action, the Children’s Environmental Health Network, the Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments, Physicians for Social Responsibility-San Francisco Bay, and more.

Is your organization or company interested in supporting the Safer Soap Act? Get in touch with Rebecca at [email protected].