Being Eco Friendly Doesn’t Include Using Triclosan!
What Is Triclosan And Why Don’t Environmentalists Like It!
Triclosanis both an antibacterial and anti-fungal agent used in many everyday toiletries such as toothpaste and shaving creams – however, there are some serious health concerns regarding it.
It is also infused into household products like childrens toys, trash bags and kitchen utensils – so is therefore widespread in our lives and comes into contact with our hands and mouths on a daily basis.
So, What Is The Problem?
There is certain evidence that Triclosan can combine with chlorine in kitchen and bathroom tap water to create chloroform gas – which the EPA class as a human carcinogen. Also if sunlight is allowed to fall on Triclosan in water or on fabric it can convert itself into carcinogenic dioxins as well.
In fall 2009 the Canadian Medical Association asked the government to ban the use of Triclosan in household products because of this, and the UK followed a similar study agreeing that the creation of dioxins is of serious concern.
These dioxins are very chemically stable and therefore stay around for a long time in both the environment and in human bodies – in an effect called bio-accumulation. Basically dioxins in low levels are not a real problem to most healthy adults, but when you keep absorbing more and more dioxins, levels can get to more dangerous levels.
What Can They Do To Humans?
Taking the Dioxins first, some of these are highly toxic and have been proved to be very significant endocrine disruptors – basically they influence tissue function, metabolism and growth and development by the hormones.
Triclosan itself can reach high levels in the body with little understood effects and it is not uncommon to find traces of it in urine samples and (even worse) and apparently in 3 out of 5 samples of breast milk (in Sweden). What a start to life!
Apparently Triclosan is classified as a pesticide in come countries – which is a worry considering it’s in products that we wipe all over our bodies everyday including nearly half of all the soaps you find in the pharmacy or larger stores.
The most common types of soap to contain it are the ‘anti-bacterial’ soaps that seem ubiquitous in today’s society. It seems to fall on deaf ears that most of the ‘bad’ illnesses we are trying to avoid are actually viruses (swine flu and MRSA) so using these soaps will have no effect on them anyway!
Continued studies, on more than one occasion, have proved that using ordinary soaps is just as effective at keeping bacteria at bay anyway. And, the continued use of any anti-bacterial agent (just like penicillin) will render the bacteria resistant to it in the long run, as a result making them immune – and stronger!
Recent lab studies have worryingly proved that common bacteria such as E coli and Salmonella can become resistant to Triclosan (Yazdankhah et al., 2006), which could make our lives a whole lot more miserable!
Any Good News?
Well, yes depending on your stance. If short-term personal gain is your aim then they can be great! Just like all other polluting products.
If you want your products to ‘last a bit longer’ and to not go mouldy or fill with bacteria – then yes, Triclosan does the job. Other products can do it just as well – but Triclosan is more readily available at the moment.
It is sometimes also recommended as a toothpaste and mouth wash if you have dental problems – so you can gargle then spit it out (but you need to ignore the fact that it runs off into rivers and streams and accumulates there instead!).
Triclosanis also still an excellent anti-bacterial product in places where we aren’t using it willy-nilly and unnecessarily in basic ‘beautifying’ products. Triclosan will be fully able to protect healthcare workers treating overseas patients with contagious diseases – particularly during serious disease outbreaks.
It can really be a life-saver to medical professional and volunteers put in those circumstances. But. If the use of Triclosan is not tightly regulated to prevent over-use in world, one day it will no longer work.
In Summary:
There are many mainstream alternatives to Triclosan products and there is proof that it bio-accumulates in us, our children and our environment. It has been decided by governments that products containing it should be labelled as such to give you a choice.
There are also plenty of websites and blogs that name the products that contain it to help you make an informed choice next time you go to the store.
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