Lisa Kaplan Gordon
A common antimicrobial agent called triclosan causes liver fibrosis and cancer in laboratory mice through mechanisms also relevant to humans, researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have found
Triclosan's broad use in consumer goods -- including liquid hand soaps, toothpastes, shampoos, cosmetics, plastics, yoga mats, cutting boards and ice cream scoops -- presents "a very real risk of liver toxicity for people, as it does in mice," said Robert H. Tukey, a UC-San Diego professor and co-author of the study, published Monday in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Triclosan, a synthetic, broad-spectrum antibacterial chemical, is coming under fire because of its links to endocrine disruption that could cause infertility, impaired muscle function and now increased cancer risks.
It's All Around
The UC-San Diego study showed that mice exposed to triclosan for six months (roughly equivalent to 18 human years) had more and larger chemical-induced liver tumors than mice not exposed to the antimicrobial. Researchers believe triclosan may interfere with the protein responsible for detoxifying foreign chemicals in the body, thereby causing liver cells to proliferate and, over time, become cancerous tumors.
Studies have found traces of triclosan in 97 percent of breast milk samples from lactating women and in the urine of nearly 75 percent of people tested, according to a statement by UC San Diego Health System. Triclosan is also one of the seven most frequently detected compounds in streams across the United States, the statement says.
"We could reduce most human and environmental exposures by eliminating uses of triclosan that are high-volume, but of low-benefit, such as inclusion in liquid hand soaps," said Bruce D. Hammock, professor at University of California, Davis. "Yet we could also for now retain uses shown to have health value -- as in toothpaste, where the amount used is small."
Colgate-Palmolive (CL) recently came under fire because its Total toothpaste contains triclosan. A recent Care2 petition, asking Colgate to remove triclosan from its toothpaste, so far has received almost 68,000 signatures.
Triclosan is already under scrutiny by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. On its website, the FDA says, "Triclosan is not currently known to be hazardous to humans. But several scientific studies have come out since the last time FDA reviewed this ingredient that merit further review."
http://www.dailyfinance.com/2014/11/...ew-study-says/
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National Biomonitoring Program
Triclosan
Triclosan is a chemical with antibacterial properties. For more than 30 years, it has been used in consumer products such as detergents, soaps, skin cleansers, deodorants, lotions, creams, toothpastes, and dishwashing liquids. Triclosan can be added to other materials, such as textiles, to make them resistant to bacterial growth.
How People Are Exposed to Triclosan
People may be exposed to triclosan when they use consumer products containing triclosan. When using these products, a person can absorb small amounts of triclosan through the skin or the mouth.
How Triclosan Affects People's Health
The human health effects from exposure to low environmental levels of triclosan are unknown. Skin products containing triclosan rarely have caused irritation. More research is needed to assess the human health effects of exposure to triclosan.
Levels of Triclosan in the U.S. Population
In the Fourth National Report on Human Exposure to Environmental Chemicals (Fourth Report), CDC scientists measured triclosan in the urine of 2,517 participants aged six years and older who took part in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) during 2003–2004. By measuring triclosan in urine, scientists can estimate the amount of triclosan that has entered people's bodies.
Triclosan was detected in the urine of nearly 75% of the people tested.
Finding measurable amounts of triclosan in urine does not imply that the levels of triclosan cause an adverse health effect. Biomonitoring studies on levels of triclosan provide physicians and public health officials with reference values so that they can determine whether people have been exposed to higher levels of triclosan than are found in the general population. Biomonitoring data can also help health scientists plan and conduct research on exposure and health effects.
http://www.cdc.gov/biomonitoring/Tri...FactSheet.html
Additional Resources
Environmental Protection Agency Triclosan Facts
http://www.epa.gov/oppsrrd1/REDs/fac...iclosan_fs.htm