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However, conventional antibiotics are generally bacteriostatic or bactericidal, which means that they indiscriminately kill or prevent the growth of both pathogenic and beneficial microbes.

That's not just folklore, O'Leary says: "There's pretty good data that there's something in cranberry, the fruit and the juice, that is bacteriostatic – that prevents the growth of bacteria."

For instance, the bacteriostatic silver nanoparticles used in socks to reduce foot odor are released in the wash and enter the waste water stream.

The deleterious effects of bactericidal antibiotics were alleviated in cell culture and in mice by the administration of the antioxidant N-acetyl--cysteine or prevented by preferential use of bacteriostatic antibiotics.

Technicians spray these with a bacteriostatic shield that repels contaminants from sticking to anything in the room.