When you wash your hands, do the chemicals in the soap absorb through into your bloodstream?

Question

Could chemical absorbtion of anti-bacterial soaps through hand washing manifest as detrimental health problems in people? Do the chemicals bioaccumulate into fat tissue and organs, or do they quickly get expunged out of the body in urine?

And what about regular soap? Should I be afraid of washing my hands too often? I get scared that if I wash my hands more than three or four times a day, I could damage my organs from the chemical contaminants.

Answer 1

NO! but some people think they do like anorexic people do b/c they think there is calories in it but it dosent abvosrb anything of anything is just cleans ur hands and gets washed away

Answer 2

first off, i have no idea what the first person who responded said.

second, that's something you shouldn't be afraid of. Most liquid hand soaps are antibacterial, and that's what you want. The only way anything can get absorbed into your bloodstream is if it is ingested by the mouth, nose, eyes, or comes contact with an open wound.  If you have a cut on your hand, and wash your hands, it's not going to hurt you, it's going to help you. it rids the skin of bacteria and other harmful things like viruses and other germs.  You have nothing to fear by washing your hands, and it's not going anywhere near your organs.  In fact, to do anything you'd probably have to eat copious amounts of soap.  

wash your hands after every trip to the bathroom, before eating, after touching something nasty, and just whenever they feel dirty.  it keeps you from getting sick and infecting your body.

Answer 3

Your skin is an effective barrier, there is not much that can be readily absorbed, especially in the short time it takes to wash your hands.  The notable exception is using the alcohol based hand cleansers that are now available on the market. Frequent and repeated use can absorb enough alcohol to cause some problems (infrequently).  DMSO and some other agents can increase the absorbability of the skin but they are not present in soaps.  Of course, mucous membranes are a totally different case.