Why you should avoid antibacterial Triclosan

23 January, 2011. Tags: Why Natural

Triclosan is found in many consumer products, particularly antibacterial soaps and body washes, toothpastes, and some cosmetics. Studies have shown it can have adverse effects on fetal growth and development, may lead to bacterial resistance to antibiotics and harms aquatic life.

According to the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, Triclosan is no more effective than regular soap and hot water.

The US Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) is currently reviewing the safety of Triclosan. Here's what it says on their website, "Animal studies have shown that Triclosan alters hormone regulation. However, data showing effects in animals don’t always predict effects in humans. Other studies in bacteria have raised the possibility that Triclosan contributes to making bacteria resistant to antibiotics."

However, The Australian National Industrial Chemicals Notification and Assessment Scheme or NICNAS, said it would not conduct its own investigation into Triclosan and referred the issue to to the National Drugs and Poisons Schedule Committee for further investigation.

The resulting study looked at the amounts of Triclosan that could be absorbed from personal care products, but not at plastic toys - so the consequences of children chewing on Triclosan-laced toys are unknown.

The study found that Triclosan levels in consumer products in Australia are less than 0.3 of a per cent and are therefore considered to be generally safe. However the department warns that people using a number of products containing Triclosan simultaneously may be at risk.

The report also found Triclosan to be highly toxic to aquatic life, even at low concentrations.

Jo Immig from the National Toxics Network in Australia says we lack the governmental controls over household chemicals that there are in the USA: "NICNAS needs improved powers over products that are imported into Australia.

"It frankly doesn't have the jurisdiction to look at the incorporation of Triclosan in domestic products in Australia.

"We'd have to rely on the ACCC as our product safety regulator to look at these issues. And we just don't have the thoroughness of a regulatory agency such as the US FDA."

This is a extremely worrying, because the USA has a terrible track record for allowing dodgy chemicals in cosmetics, compared the much better regulation in Europe. If Australia is in a worse position than the USA then it seems we really are in trouble!

So what to do to protect your family from germs? The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics suggests sticking with plain soap and water for washing, and choosing hand sanitizers that rely on alcohol instead of Triclosan or Triclocarban.

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