Antimicrobial Pencils (a response from Microban)

A few days ago, I blogged about a company that put a wide range of long-lasting antimicrobial products into a wide range of products. I wrote the company to complain about their practices, especially in regards to the evolution of antimicrobial resistance, due to the overuse of antimicrobial products.

To my surprise, I actually got a response from Microban International, Ltd. to the email I sent:

Dear Mr. [ecoli]

I appreciate your concern, and applaud your going to the effort of expressing an opinion on an major issue; but I also must point out that this issue shows the need for applying critical thinking to what is published, particularly on science and health in the mass media, and to be sure that you study primary sources of information before forming your opinions.

Resistant strains, such as MRSA, are an issue in the medical use of antibiotics, a subset of antimicrobials with particular modes of action and patterns of use. Microban uses general purpose biocides, another subset of antimicrobials, with multiple modes of action, which do not cause resistant strains as demonstrated in both clinical studies and in over a century of use. Triclosan is one of the antimicrobials that we use, is probably one of the most studied of the antimicrobials, and despite all of the hysteria around it has been shown in something like 6-7 clinical studies, including one by the guy who started the whole thing, and 30 years of use to not cause resistant strains. In addition, our mode of use of antimicrobials, incorporating them into products so that there is always a greater than inhibitory concentration of antimicrobial available, would minimize the likelihood of development of resistant strains; whereas the use of disinfectants and general purpose antimicrobials, common in medical, public spaces, and the home, continually cycles through substantial periods of sub-inhibitory concentrations, a situation far more likely to result in resistant strains but doesn’t. The focus on triclosan and other general purpose antimicrobials is just a red herring that distracts from the real issues concerning the use of antibiotics.

I have attached a white paper that reviews the science behind this issue with regard to general purpose antimicrobials and lists the key papers reporting on the research in this area. I hope that you will take the time to study them.

Sincerely,

Dr. Wayne Swofford

VP, Research & Development
Microban International

I’ve made the paper they gave me available as a Google Doc. I’m going to read the paper in detail over the next several days, but I’m sure at least some of the technical aspects are going to be above my head. So I appeal to the masses to give me a hand in reviewing the paper, to attempt to falsify their work. I don’t want Microban to win out in a simple ‘Appeal to Authority’ if their study is, in fact, bunk.

I urge people who are interested in this issue, to take part. I’ve posted a thread at ScienceForums.net (my home base), which anyone can and should take part in. And, bloggers, feel free to write about this in your own blogs.

Posted in education, evolution, genetics, medicine, microbiology | No Comments »

D&D 4.0 and D&D Stormreach

Tim, at CAD Comics news (great comic, by the way) writes about the new Dungeons and Dragons system that’s coming out, known as D&D 4.0.

I, myself, am still playing (when I get the chance) D&D 3.0 having refused to take part in the debacle/ marketing scam that was D&D 3.5.  I use my own house rules to cover the week points in the system and therefore bypass the need to give another 60+ dollars to Wizards of the Coast.

As a primarily pc/console gaming site, Tim says:

A few times I tried to get into the whole DnD roleplaying thing the best I could with both Neverwinter Nights 1 and 2, but it never really stuck, and I know it wouldn’t have been like real DnD anyway.

Hopefully someday they’ll successfully translate the DnD experience to something that can be played online.

I guess, and it seems odd to think this is true, Tim has never heard of the MMORPG that WotC released some time ago; D&D Online: Stormreach.  I played that one for a while, being one of the only MMOs I’ve gotten into (that and Runescape).  It’s a slightly inferior game than World of Warcraft, but its more genetically related to D&D, which I like better than WoW.  The races, weapons and magic systems are more familiar to me, as a D&D player.  I would much like to read to review of that game by Tim.

And one more thing:

In the meantime, the closest I get is my miniature wargaming, with Warmachine, which I absolutely love.

I never got into Warmachine, but I played Warhammer 40k for a while.  I could spend any more money on table top wargaming systems; the models were getting too expensive.  Plus, they kept changing the rules and mini designs.  I still have all my models though.  I can’t bring myself to part with them.

Well that’s all on that matter for now.  I’m going to get back to that episode of Doctor Who that I was watching.

Posted in entertainment, musings | No Comments »