# Cancer and Germaphobia? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 20, 2016, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cancer-and-germaphobia/749667 "2016-03-20T18:04:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Brodi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/cc9497/32.png) [@Brodi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brodi)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2016, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cancer-and-germaphobia/749667/1 "2016-03-20T18:04:51Z")
Has there ever been a link established between people who go overboard with the Germ X, Lysol, etc and cancer? Like, if someone turns their home into an almost sterile environment, does the affect that has on their immune system effect their chances of getting cancer? ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2016, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cancer-and-germaphobia/749667/2 "2016-03-20T18:11:33Z")
No homes are almost sterile. Leaving aside the question of what connection cancer might have to the immune system (probably none), there are germs everywhere in the air and on every surface and more constantly come in because houses are not airtight even if you never step outside. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2016, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cancer-and-germaphobia/749667/3 "2016-03-20T20:56:41Z")
If there’s a link I suspect it will be because of the chemicals they are using. Anything that kills “germs” is likely to cause cancer, too. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2016, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cancer-and-germaphobia/749667/4 "2016-03-20T22:03:37Z")
My parents were in India in the 50s. There were many Americans there looking for business in the newly independent State. The English mostly manage pretty well in the heat, flies and generally unhygienic conditions prevailing. The Americans did not. My father always maintained that it was because the Americans had a lower immunity due to their high standard of hygiene, frequent showers, and zealous attempts to avoid germs. > [@](#): > > t is thought that exposure to both good and bad germs in the first few years of life helps to develop the immune system – an idea distinct to the hygiene hypothesis. This helps the body to learn how to fight infection and to tell the difference between harmful and harmless substances. > Throughout life, it is also important that our bodies have the right balance of some exposure to both good and bad germs (present in our everyday environment), particularly in our gut and on our skin, to ensure that the immune system is trained to deal with different kinds of substances. Changes in this balance can cause the immune system to react unpredictably and it may find it difficult to tell when it is being attacked. > Maintaining this balance means not being afraid of getting outside and getting dirty sometimes. Also see [the Hygiene Hypothesis and home hygiene](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1448690/) ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2016, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cancer-and-germaphobia/749667/5 "2016-03-20T23:56:12Z")
Not to be a killjoy, but remember cancer is not one disease. It is a collection of conditions that manifest themselves in variously related ways. Yes you can ‘contract’ cancer from exposure to substances such as plutonium or asbestos, but you can also be genetically predisposed to develop it.