We'll tell it to you straight. If you find yourself reaching for products containing common antibacterial chemicals like triclosan or triclocarban, you are getting duped. Study after study finds regular soap and water is just as effective, and without all of the worrisome side effects linked to triclosan use.
In fact, a new study published in the American Society for Microbiology's mBiojournal found that the antibacterial agent commonly used in household soaps, cleaners, shampoos, and toothpastes could be winding up inside of your nose. Once there, it promotes the growth of Staphylococcus aureus bacteria, possibly predisposing some people to infections.
In other words, it's doing the exact opposite of what it's supposed to do—kill germs.
University of Michigan researchers detected triclosan in 41 percent of adults sampled. Those with triclosan-tainted noses were more likely to harbor S. aureuscolonies, making them more susceptible to infections, particularly if they're undergoing surgery.
Triclosan has been around for nearly 60 years and today is also widely used in exercise clothing and socks marketed to fight odors. Many companies also impregnate kitchen cutting boards and gadgets with the chemical, promising germ-fighting, antimicrobial power.
Even school supplies, many plastics, toys, and some carpets and pacifiers are loaded with the unnecessary household chemical.
Its use is so widespread that it's been detected in people's blood, urine, and breast milk. Other scientific studies link the antimicrobial chemical to thyroid problems, abnormal hormone health, early puberty, a rise in hard-to-treat, antibiotic-resistant infections, and damaged heart and skeletal muscle function.
"In light of the significant use of triclosan in consumer products and its widespread environmental contamination, our data combined with previous studies showing impacts of triclosan on the endocrine system and muscle function suggest that a reevaluation of triclosan in consumer products is urgently needed," the authors wrote.
The FDA stands up to triclosan.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently took a bold stance on triclosan, telling personal care product manufacturers they need to prove the chemical is safe for humans and that it outperforms regular soap and water. That process is still playing out, so triclosan and its cousin triclocarban are still being used in thousands of everyday products.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently took a bold stance on triclosan, telling personal care product manufacturers they need to prove the chemical is safe for humans and that it outperforms regular soap and water. That process is still playing out, so triclosan and its cousin triclocarban are still being used in thousands of everyday products.
"It's a big deal that the FDA is taking this on," said Rolf Halden, who has been tracking the issue for years. Halden is the director of the Center for Environmental Security, a joint research hub created with support from Arizona State University's Biodesign Institute, Fulton Schools of Engineering and the Security and Defense Systems Initiative.
The FDA has given soap manufacturers one year to demonstrate that the substances are safe or to take them out of the products altogether. The FDA rule is open for public comment until June.
"The FDA's move is a prudent and important step toward preserving the efficacy of clinically important antibiotics, preventing unnecessary exposure of the general population to endocrine disrupting and potentially harmful chemicals, and throttling back the increasing release and accumulation of antimicrobials in the environment," said Halden.
Ew! Are you serious?
The damage isn't restricted to our bodies, either. Once washed down the drain, wastewater treatment plants struggle to remove triclosan from water, so it makes its way into rivers and streams, where it's toxic to the immune systems of fish and other wildlife. Like in humans, it also throws off delicate hormonal systems in animals, too.
The damage isn't restricted to our bodies, either. Once washed down the drain, wastewater treatment plants struggle to remove triclosan from water, so it makes its way into rivers and streams, where it's toxic to the immune systems of fish and other wildlife. Like in humans, it also throws off delicate hormonal systems in animals, too.
And get this. Triclosan and triclocarban are the most abundant drugs in wastewater treatment plant sludge, the solids left behind in water treatment plants. It accounts for 60 percent of the mass of all drugs detectable in sewage sludge. About 435,000 pounds of the antimicrobial chemical are dumped onto U.S. farmland every year, creating breeding grounds for drug-resistant microbes and food contaminated with soap chemicals. (Organic seems like a good choice right about now, doesn't it?)
The antimicrobial chemicals sometime contain carcinogenic dioxin and don't easily break down and have persisted in some soils for 50 years.
Avoid triclosan.
It's pretty clear this chemical is bad news. Here's how to get it out of your life:
It's pretty clear this chemical is bad news. Here's how to get it out of your life:
• Learn proper handwashing technique, using regular soap and water.
• If you can't wash with regular soap and water, opt for an alcohol-based sanitizer with at least 70 percent alcohol content to kill germs, or an effective plant-based hand sanitizer like CleanWell.
• Before buying personal care products, check the ingredients list and avoid triclosan- or triclocarbon-containing products.
• It's a little tougher to ID these antimicrobials in other products because other manufacturers aren't required to disclose it on the label. As a general rule, be wary of "anti-odor," "odor-fighting technology," "antimicrobial," "Microban," or germ-killing claims. This could signal triclosan use.
• Eat organic. The use of sewage sludge is banned in organic agriculture.
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