The FDA just made it clear that antibacterial soap is hurting you more than it's helping you

It sounds like it's time to throw out the antibacterial soap in your house. The Food and Drug Administration is banning 19 chemicals commonly found in such products, including triclosan and triclocarban, due to potentially harmful side effects. "If the product makes antibacterial claims, chances are pretty good it contains one of these ingredients," Theresa Michele, the FDA's director of the Division of Nonprescription Drug Products, told reporters.

Evidence suggests that the chemicals used in antibacterial soaps can alter hormone cycles and cause muscle weakness, NPR reports. Triclosan also kills good bacteria and could help create germs that are resistant to antibiotics; the chemical has been known to contaminate streams and has been found in human milk and dolphin's blood, according to Vitals.

While antibacterial soap is often marketed as being more effective than soap and water, experts say that it actually isn't. Washing your hands with regular soap (if you do it the right way) is just fine.

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Hospitals and the food industry can still use antibacterial soap, but otherwise, companies have until September 2017 to rid their products of the banned chemicals or remove those products from the market altogether.