Due to the amount of curiosity spurred about the antimicrobial agent that was mentioned in discussion on Tuesday, I decided to do some research on triclosan and share its relevance to us. Having a relatively surface understanding of triclosan myself, I contacted a colleague, Beth Fawcett, who has done extensive research on the drug and who I knew would lead me in the right direction. Beth directed me towards a very useful article entitled
The Ubiquitous Triclosan, A common antimicrobial agent exposed, written by Aviva Glaser, that explains triclosan in great detail. From that article and a few others, I gathered a bit more information about the drug that tends to be related to many long term health defects.
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2,4,4’-Trichloro-2’-hydroxydiphenyl ether
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So what is triclosan? Quite simply it's a disinfectant used in various consumer products including Dial liquid soap, Colgate Total toothpaste, Garden Botanika cosmetics, Playskool toys for children, Dickies socks, and Gillette shaving products. Due to its potent ability to inhibit bacterial reproduction by targeting a specific bacteria-protein carrying enzyme, triclosan and other antimicrobial agents have been shown to prevent hospital-acquired infections when used under appropriate conditions
1. However, when it comes to household efficiency, these agents prove to be less than necessary; when tested in over 200 homes, antimicrobial agents showed no effect on reducing the risk of experiencing symptoms of harmful diseases
2. There have been cases reported in which skin irritations appeared after triclosan exposure, leading to dermatology
studies. In such research, triclosan is tested for the ability to cause skin irritations like photoallergic contact dermatitis, which causes eczematous rashes on the neck, face, and back of hands upon contact with sunlight. Long term exposure of triclosan was tested on mice, common animals chosen for biological research in place of human subjects, which showed that triclosan eventually lowers body temperature and leads to a depressant effect on the central nervous system
3. The everlasting debate about the risks of triclosan has led to even further
research at the University of Colorado and the University of California that has linked triclosan to the deterioration of muscle function, including the heart, when tested on mice.
So considering the small amount of good triclosan can do and the large amount of bad suspected of it, I would steer clear. Isn't it better to be safe than sorry anyway?
1Levy, S. B. 2002. Antimicrobial Consumer Products. Archives of Dermatology 138:1087-1088.
2Larson, E. L., S. X. Lin, C. Gomez-Pichardo, and P. Della-La�a. 2004. Effect of anti-bacterial home cleaning and handwashing products on infectious disease symptoms: a randomized, double-blind trial. Annals of Internal Medicine 140:321-329
3Miller, T.L., Lorusso D. J., Walsh M. L., and M. L. Deinzer. 1983. The acute toxicity of penta-, hexa-, and heptachlorohydroxydiphenyl ethers in mice. Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health 12 (2-3):245-53.
I wasn't aware that it could cause detrimental effects on the muscular system. I do have a question though, are certain test subjects more susceptible to muscular disfunction than other subjects? Is there some genetic pre-disoposition, or can it be based on nutrition? If none of these are a factor in the harmful effects of the muscular system then I would say that triclosan is NOT an effect agent to be having in our homes nor spreading to the environment!
ReplyDeleteBased on rudimentary knowledge of biological makeup, I'm sure different animals experience different muscular dysfunction; however mice make great subjects for biological studies on human concerns because their biological makeup is incredibly similar to our own, which is based on genetic predisposition as you may say. Here is a link that explains this pretty nicely.
Deletehttp://www.healthcentral.com/breast-cancer/cf/slideshows/what-can-a-mouse-tell-us-about-human-health/mice-are-a-lot-like-us/
I stopped using Total toothpaste after I learned more about Triclosan. The pervasive nature of some chemicals that are in our environment, like fire retardants, is truly scary.
ReplyDeleteSome chemicals can be intimidating, but they are also some of the most invigoratingly interesting components of this complex world we live in, we just have to know how to use them.
DeleteTriclosan has a interesting impact on the environment, and is so important that research is done over it. Your right, we have to know how to use chemicals properly in the world we live in.
ReplyDeleteCommented by: Claire Real
It is crazy to think that even with all the government regulations we have here in the U.S. there are still products being sold with harmful chemicals in them. After learning that triclosan is in one of the big toy makers, and in dial soap which i have used since i can remember it makes me wonder what other harmful chemicals are in things i used daily.
ReplyDeleteIt is a valid concern, but if we spent time trying to outlaw every harmful chemical from commercial use we would lose out on focusing on more important concerns. I think education and word of mouth are the best ways to go about keeping ourselves and families safe and toxin free.
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