Ryan Van Velzer

The Republic | azcentral.com

2%2C000 consumer products contain triclosan

Triclosan may impact human hormone regulation

A potentially dangerous chemical could be making its way through your body and washing your hands with antibacterial soap isn't going to help, at least not if it contains triclosan.

If you're using antibacterial or antimicrobial soaps, hand sanitizers, certain toothpaste, deodorants, pesticides, cosmetics or any of the 2,000 products that contain triclosan, then triclosan could be in your system.

And that's a problem, for you and for the environment, according to the research of Rolf Halden, founding director of the Center for Environmental Security at Arizona State University's Biodesign Institute in downtown Phoenix.

Halden and a growing number of scientists have found triclosan, and its cousin triclocarban, are harmful to the environment, animals, algae and possibly humans:

— American Chemical Society researchers found that triclosan "enhanced" the growth of breast cancer cells, according to a 2014 study.

— An Oxford Journals review of a 2006 study found that triclosan elevated thyroid hormone levels in tadpoles.

— The National Center for Biotechnology Information found that triclosan "significantly impacts thyroid hormone concentrations in male juvenile rats," according to a 2009 study.

— The National Center for Biotechnology Information found that triclosan may disrupt endocrine activities by altering particular hormone metabolism "with potential adverse health effects in exposed individuals," according to a 2005 study.

In a 2013 study, Halden and a team of ASU scientists found triclosan in the urine of all 180 pregnant women they studied, and in the umbilical-cord blood of half of the womens' fetuses.

And it doesn't stop in people. The human body is efficient at flushing out chemicals, Halden said. However, triclosan is so ubiquitous that people are almost always in contact with it.

Once the chemicals are flushed out of the body they end up in freshwater resources and sewage sludge. It's even detectable in house dust throughout the world, according to Halden's 2012 article in Environmental Science and Technology.

Triclosan's impact on the environment

Minnesota is already taking action. In May, Gov. Mark Dayton signed a bill banning triclosan products used in cleaning that will go into effect in 2017.

Meanwhile, Minnesota's Department of Health has detected triclosan in its water resources including 4.3 parts per billion in Minnesota wastewater and .31 parts per billion in Minnesota. Now there's evidence that triclosan is interfering with the endocrine systems in fish, harming aquatic plants and might be damaging to bacteria living in the soil, according to the website.

Although the levels are not high enough to pose health risks to people, the health department said it does not recommend using products that contain triclosan unless instructed by a doctor.

Triclosan's impact on hormone levels

For Halden, the largest concern is the chemical's effect on human hormones. Triclosan impacts the endocrine system, which regulates hormone levels, by mimicking or interfering with hormone production and communication. Even a low concentration of the chemical might have a large impact on the human body, he said.

"We find exposure to the susceptible population, in the urine of the mothers and the cord blood of the babies," Halden said.

However, triclosan has its uses. The chemical's antimicrobial properties can help cure gingivitis when used in toothpaste, and help surgeons clean their hands before a surgery, Halden said.

"There are specific uses where it may be helpful as in toothpaste that helps people with gingivitis, on the flip-side, doesn't mean everybody should take, you take it when you have a problem," Halden said.

For the general public, using triclosan has no measurable benefit, he said.

On average, people only wash their hands for six seconds. But in order for triclosan's antimicrobial properties to take effect, people would need to wash their hands for about the same amount of time it would take to sing the "Happy Birthday" song twice, he said.

"It's effective in operating rooms, but it's not a good use if it simply ends up in the sewer system and is then polluting the environment," Halden said.

The FDA's lackadaisical approach to regulation

According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's website, triclosan is "not currently known to be hazardous to humans," but the website also admits that several scientific studies have been published since it last reviewed the chemical.

The last time the FDA reviewed the chemical was 1994. Before that it was 1978. In both cases, the FDA determined that there is not enough data on triclosan to determine whether it is "safe and effective," said Mae Wu, an attorney for the health program at Natural Resource Defense Council.

Rather than postponing the use of triclosan in consumer products, the FDA included in a proposed monograph that allowed the chemical's use in consumer products and led to the mass use seen today, Wu said.

In 2010, the Natural Resource Defense Council sued the FDA for what it called an unreasonable delay. The FDA settled in 2013 promising to establish deadlines to approve the monograph by 2016.

"It's not fantastic, but we could have been waiting another 35 years. In the meantime, the concerns about triclosan have been piling up," Wu said.

How to avoid triclosan

Any over-the-counter drug, including toothpaste, soaps and body washes will list triclosan as an ingredient on the label in the Drug Facts box. In cosmetics, triclosan is listed on the ingredients on the product label, according to the FDA website.

So, just go ahead and wash your hands with regular old soap and water. The FDA found that antibacterial soaps and body washes that contain triclosan don't have any extra health benefits over regular soaps, according to the FDA website.

"The findings are important because antimicrobial usage is very widespread and we need to understand whether it is at all necessary to use these chemicals given they have no detectable measurable benefits to the general public," Halden said.