Take a look at the ingredients in your toothpaste. Is triclosan on the list? If so, switching brands would be a good idea.
Some products containing triclosan. Triclosan is the active ingredient in many widely used antibacterial products. You probably used some – or many – of them in your own home. These products claim to kill “99.9% of germs” as if that were a good thing … and triclosan is the killer.
TRICLOSAN: A PROBLEMATIC CHEMICAL WITH ADVERSE HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS (Francis, 2014), (Kaplan, 2014), (Mercola, 2014)
Triclosan is a synthetic, broad-spectrum antibacterial, antiviral and antifungal agent present in a wide variety of consumer products: toothpastes, liquid soaps, dish washing liquids, mouth washes, face washes, hand sanitizers, surgical cleaning scrubs, shaving gels, deodorants, detergents, textiles, socks, workout clothes, toys, plastic kitchenware, cutting boards, school supplies – and many more.
Triclosan was first registered as a pesticide in 1969 and is now widely used as an antimicrobial. Do you want to brush your teeth with pesticide? For that matter, do you think it’s wise to kill 99% of the useful bacterial in your mouth daily?
The label on Colgate toothpastes lists the amount of triclosan in its products as only 0.30% – which may seem very small. But because triclosan is extremely powerful at killing bacteria and other microbes, this negligible amount makes the chemical a powerfully active ingredient.
Aside from killing 99% of our useful microbes along with the harmful ones, triclosan also reacts with water to form chloroform, a possible carcinogen, and with sunlight to form dioxins, known endocrine disruptors. (Angkadjaja, 2012)
Triclosan’s chemical structure is similar to thyroid hormones and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs – toxic chemicals now banned in the US but still found in the environment). This similarity allows it to attach to thyroid hormone receptors, altering hormone regulation and possibly interfering with fetal development. Scientists have noted an increased cancer risk from triclosan exposure. And bacteria exposed to triclosan are apt to become resistant to antibiotics.
The US Food and Drug Administration acknowledges that recent research raises “valid concerns” about the safety of triclosan, which is used so widely in products that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports it is found in the urine of 75% of the population.
Triclosan:
Is found in the blood, urine and breast milk of the average person.
Is a known hormone disrupter.
Is a culprit in creating superbugs, bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics.
Weakens the heart muscle, impairing contractions and reducing heart function.
Weakens skeletal muscles, reducing grip strength
Washes into your sewage systems and pollutes water bodies
On top of all this, ANTI-BACTERIAL SOAP OFFERS NO PROVEN BENEFIT OVER REGULAR SOAP!
A joint project of Food & Water Watch and Beyond Pesticides has created a FACT SHEET on the dangers of triclosan. It contains a summary of nearly 60 studies into the chemical’s impact on health. From the FACT SHEET:
A growing list of household and personal care products are advertised as “antibacterial” because they contain a chemical called triclosan. While the manufacturers of these products want you to think triclosan protects you from harmful bacteria, it turns out it may be doing more harm than good.
See Triclosan: What the Research Shows (Food & Water Watch and Beyond Pesticides, undated)
The proliferation of triclosan in everyday consumer products is enormous. It is now found in our drinking water, in our rivers, in our bodies. Several other countries, including the members of the European Union, have banned or restricted use of the chemical. Yet we in the US continue to consume and be exposed to an onslaught of triclosan. (Layton, 2010)
The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry’s name for triclosan is 5-chloro-2-(2,4-dichlorophenoxy)phenol. Triclosan is similar in its uses and mechanism of action to triclocarbon, another dangerous antibacterial chemical used in personal care products. Brand names include Digiclean, Asepso, Prevens, Virx, Derma-Glove, FresHands and Renewal. (Wikipedia, 8/24/2014)
HOW TRICLOSAN WORKS The cells of all organisms, including bacteria, require a cell membrane to survive. The cell membrane is a critical barrier that selectively allows oxygen, nutrients, and wastes to permeate and leave the cell; it is the “edge of life, the boundary that separates the living cell from its nonliving surroundings”. Without a permeable cell membrane, a cell would simply die. For example, wastes would not be transported out of the cell, causing toxins to accumulate and poison the cell. Curiously, it is precisely this function of the cell membrane that Triclosan is engineered to immobilize…. Triclosan stops the fatty acid elongation process by inhibiting a bacterial enzyme. … By stealing active sites from the natural substrate, Triclosan systematically kills bacteria by stopping fatty acid chain growth. This, in turn, stops the growth of the cell membrane and effectively kills the cell. The process is efficient, insidious and almost perfect, and when given the opportunity, Triclosan is extremely successful. – S. Angkadjaja, 2012. What Makes Antibacterial Soap Antibacterial? Illumin: A review of engineering in everyday life
Earthpaste Amazingly Natural Toothpaste – Cinnamon TRICLOSAN-FREE TOOTHPASTES Here are some of the triclosan-free toothpastes on the market:
Redmond Trading Company’s Earthpaste Amazingly Natural Toothpaste – Cinnamon
Doterra Toothpaste
Tom’s of Maine
Sensodyne
Jason’s Natural Toothpaste
Nature’s Gate
Desert Essence
Crest Toothpastes
Waleda
Some of these brands contain fluoride and other chemicals of concern. For example, here’s Environmental Working Group’s SKIN DEEP’s analysis of Sensodyne Original Flavor Toothpaste:
At least it doesn’t contain triclosan.
Check the ingredients list on your own toothpaste. Triclosan is listed under Active Ingredients.
I personally also avoid toothpastes containing fluoride, which is a toxin – and the reason why fluoride-containing toothpastes come with a warning not to swallow it – as on the label above.
MANY BACTERIA ARE GOOD FOR US
There is much evidence showing that bacteria are not all dangerous and should not be killed willy nilly. Many strains of bacteria are in fact necessary for our health. The modern world has developed an unhealthy phobia against germs of all kinds.
Remember the Human Microbiome? A large part of it resides in our gastro-intestinal tracts. So much so that the Gut Microbiome is often referred to as our second genome. Our guts are home to several pounds of microbes responsible for keeping our immune systems strong so we can have healthy bodies and minds.
In addition to the gut microbiome, the human body also is home to other important microbiomes: On our skin; in our mouths, urogenital tracts, nasal cavities.
Human Microbiomes In fact, bacteria and other micro-organisms living in and on the human body outnumber our human cells by 10 to 1! And this is a good thing. Without these microbes, our health – perhaps our very existence – would be in serious jeopardy.
A nice little animated video from NPR called The Invisible Universe Of The Human Microbiome (5:28).
The Invisible Universe Of The Human Microbiome – NPR
THE HYGIENE HYPOTHESIS
The Hygiene Hypothesis states that overly sanitizing our skins and environments is actually doing much harm and is responsible for the steep rise in auto-immune diseases, asthma, eczema and other health problems.
Michael Pollan states it well in his New York Times Magazine article“Some of My Best Friends Are Germs “ – which I highly recommend reading:
Human health should now “be thought of as a collective property of the human-associated microbiota” ….
Such a paradigm shift comes not a moment too soon, because as a civilization, we’ve just spent the better part of a century doing our unwitting best to wreck the human-associated microbiota with a multifronted war on bacteria and a diet notably detrimental to its well-being. Researchers now speak of an impoverished “Westernized microbiome” and ask whether the time has come to embark on a project of “restoration ecology” — not in the rain forest or on the prairie but right here at home, in the human gut. (Pollan, 2013)
The Hygiene Hypothesis: Our modern obsession with cleanliness is making us and our environment sick.
My recommendation is to be alarmed rather than reassured by products that promise to kill 99.9% of germs. Using these products will deprive you of many microbes necessary for your health – and the health of our planet too. THE RIGHT WAY TO WASH YOUR HANDS In 2005 an advisory panel told the Federal Drug Administration there was no evidence that antibacterial soaps work better than regular soap and water. (Layton, 2010)
Remember washing your hands with regular soap and warm water before antibacterial soaps and hand sanitizers hit the market? Turns out using regular soap and water is actually the best way to protect your health and prevent the spread of infections and communicable illnesses. In case you’ve forgotten how to do it:
Wet your hands with warm water.
Lather up with regular soap.
Rub soapy hands together for at least 15 seconds before rinsing.
Dry hands before turning off the faucet.
Use a paper towel to turn off the water to avoid germs on the faucet.
CHECK FOR TRICLOSAN IN OTHER PRODUCTS You might also want to check for triclosan in the ingredients list of your other personal care and household cleaning products. It’s bad stuff. Some of the many products containing triclosan:
THE EWG’S SKIN DEEP WEBSITE AND MOBILE APP The Environmental Working Group has collected safety data on over 69,000 products. You can either go to their SKIN DEEP website or use their mobile app.
Sample information from EWG’s SKIN DEEP project’s mobile app that lets you obtain hazard on over 69,000 personal care products by typing in the product’s name or scanning its barcode with a smart phone. Why the EWG established the SKIN DEEP project: The American government doesn’t require health studies or pre-market testing of the chemicals in personal care products, even though just about everyone is exposed to them. Through Skin Deep, we put the power of information in consumers’ hands. When you know what’s in the products you bring into your home and how those chemicals may affect your health and the environment, you can make informed purchasing decisions — and help transform the marketplace. At the same time, we advocate responsible corporate and governmental policies to protect the most vulnerable among us. What SKIN DEEP says about triclosan and triclocarban on their website: Triclosan & Triclocarban: Antimicrobial pesticides in liquid soap (triclosan) or soap bars (triclocarban), very toxic to the aquatic environment. Often found as contaminants in people due to widespread use of antimicrobial cleaning products. Triclosan disrupts thyroid function and reproductive hormones. American Medical Association and the American Academy of Microbiology say that soap and water serves just as well to prevent spread of infections and reduce bacteria on the skin. Overuse may promote the development of bacterial resistance.
REFERENCES
Angkadjaja, S. (2012). What Makes Antibacterial Soap Antibacterial? Illumin: A review of engineering in everyday life. See: http://illumin.usc.edu/printer/68/what-makes-antibacterial-soap-antibacterial/
Food & Water Watch + Beyond Pesticides. (undated). Triclosan: What the Research Shows. See: http://www.beyondpesticides.org/antibacterial/triclosan-research-3-09.pdf
Francis, I. (2014). Why you should be worried about the chemical ‘Triclosan’ that’s in your toothpaste. See: http://www.thealternative.in/lifestyle/worried-chemical-triclosan-thats-toothpaste/
Hardin, J.R. (2014). The Gut Microbiome – Our Second Genome. AllergiesAndYourCut.com. See: https://www.allergiesandyourgut.com/post/the-gut-microbiome-our-second-genome
Kaplan, D. (2014). FDA says studies on triclosan, used in sanitizers and soaps, raise concerns. See: http://www.healthfreedoms.org/fda-says-studies-on-triclosan-used-in-sanitizers-and-soaps-raise-concerns/
Layton, L. (2010). FDA says studies on triclosan, used in sanitizers and soaps, raise concerns. The Washington Post. See: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/07/AR2010040704621.html
Mercola, R. (2014). Best-Selling Toothpaste Contains Endocrine-Disrupting Chemical. See: http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2014/08/27/triclosan-toothpaste.aspx?e_cid=20140827Z1_DNL_art_1&utm_source=dnl&utm_medium=email&utm_content=art1&utm_campaign=20140827Z1&et_cid=DM54542&et_rid=636597549
NPR. (2013). The Invisible Universe Of The Human Microbiome. Video (5:28). See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DTrENdWvvM
Pollan, M. (2013). Some of My Best Friends Are Germs. New York Times Magazine, May 15 2013. See http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/19/magazine/say-hello-to-the-100-trillion-bacteria-that-make-up-your-microbiome.html?_r=0
Wikipedia. (8/24/2014). Triclosan. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triclosan
© Copyright 2014 Joan Rothchild Hardin. All Rights Reserved.
DISCLAIMER: Nothing on this site or blog is intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.
Comments submitted prior to 8/25/2021
Your blog is looking great, Joan!
Moses Villarama
Piden no usar triclosán: el antibacteriano de jabones resultó ser tóxico al hígado. | ¿DE QUE HABLAMOS AHORA?
In reply to Piden no usar triclosán: el antibacteriano de jabones resultó ser tóxico al hígado. | ¿DE QUE HABLAMOS AHORA?.The comment above from dequehablamosahora.com urges people not to use antibacterial soaps containing triclosan because the chemical is toxic
to the liver.
Joan Hardin