Brushing up on triclosan

Beware of products that use triclosan as they can cause cancer.

Thus read a text message we received recently from a balikbayan health crusader.

Just what is triclosan? And what’s the truth behind the recent text and e-mail brouhaha?

Well, triclosan is present in all those products you use (and often, can’t live without) every day: Dish soaps, toothpastes, mouthwashes, deodorants, detergents, laundry soaps, cosmetics, lotions, creams. Chemists will tell you that triclosan is in all those products because it’s an antibacterial chemical. Fact is, in the US, it is registered as a pesticide, making it potentially harmful to both human health and the environment.

A chlorinated aromatic, microbiologists say it is "similar in molecular structure and chemical formula to some of the most toxic chemicals on earth – dioxins, PCBs and Agent Orange. Its manufacturing process may produce dioxin, a powerful hormone-disrupting chemical with toxic effects in the parts per trillion (one drop in 300 Olympic-sized swimming pools!). Hormone disruptors pose enormous long-term chronic health risks, because they interfere with the way hormones perform (such as changing genetic material, or fostering birth defects)."

Just as the indiscriminate prescription of antibiotics has resulted in the spread of drug-resistant bacteria, public health officials are concerned that the widespread use of antibacterial agents (such as triclosan) could have the same effect. Besides, experiments have shown that triclosan may not be the all-out germ killer it’s touted to be, according to microbiologist Laura McMurray and her colleagues at the Tufts University School of Medicine. Even doctors think that including triclosan in soap is an unnecessary expense since plain soap will do just as well.

Suspected of causing cancer in humans, triclosan can cause skin irritations. Internally, it can cause cold sweats, circulatory collapse, convulsions, coma, and even death. Studies show that when stored in body fat, it can accumulate to toxic levels and damage the kidneys, liver and lungs, and cause paralysis, sterility, suppression of immune function, brain hemorrhage, decreased fertility and sexual function, heart problems, and coma.

But according to Jonn Salovaara, "Chemical use is so widespread today that literally no one knows all the possible side effects of ingredients – even in toothpaste. One result, however, is beginning to make itself felt: A free-floating anxiety resulting in bizarre new forms of urban legend."

The writer refers to an e-mail hysterically making the rounds about a product or environmental threat that’s supposedly on the way to destroy us. The e-mail says that someone’s tropical fish died when the aquarium was cleaned with a product containing triclosan produced by a certain company. It was found out that the accused company doesn’t make antibacterial sponges and the rumor died a natural death.

Salovaara, however, adds: "Nonetheless, the legend is based in real research. A report from Quantex Laboratories, in Edison, New Jersey, states, ‘Triclosan is an antibacterial/antimicrobial agent approved for use in anti-gum-disease toothpaste and also used in deodorant soaps, deodorants, antiperspirants and body washes, detergents, dish washing liquids, cosmetics and anti-microbial creams, lotions, and hand soaps. It is also used as an additive in plastics, polymers, and textiles to give these materials antibacterial properties ..."

The report goes on to say that it is in the manufacture of triclosan that there’s a potential for the formation of small amounts of unwanted trace by-products which are of concern. It adds that it is possible that several (toxic) dioxins can be found in varying low level amounts as synthesis impurities in triclosan.

So, is the triclosan in our toothpaste, soap, detergent or cosmetic product harmful?

Says the FDA: It is possible that triclosan may sometimes contain dioxin, but it would be in such minute quantities so as to pose no danger to human health.

That assurance would suffice for now. But concerned environment activists are asking, "How soon will triclosan accumulate to harmful levels in the environment?"

Surely, that’s something we just can’t brush aside.