Triclosan is an anti-bacterial ingredient in many cosmetics and personal-care products. These include nearly half of all commercial antibacterial liquid soaps, cleansers, deodorants, detergents, toothpastes, and mouthwashes.
Water testing studies by the U.S. Geological Survey have found that triclosan is among the top 10 persistent contaminants in U.S. rivers, streams, lakes, and underground aquifers. Of related concern, triclosan persists in the environment, accumulating as it passes up the food chain to our bodies, and contributes to reduced resistance to antibiotics.
Unexpected volatility has been documented when the triclosan in liquid soaps and other household products comes into contact with water, as would happen during common use. At Virginia Tech University, a team of researchers in April 2005 reported that some toothpastes and soaps create a chloroform gas when the triclosan in these products reacts with chlorinated tap water. Triclosan also interacts with free chlorine in tap water and degrades under sunlight to produce chloroform, which is both toxic and carcinogenic following inhalation or skin absorption, particularly while bathing in warm water.
Triclosan, has been shown to produce toxic hormonal effects, known as endocrine disruption, on the development of the thyroid gland in tadpoles, and on sex ratios and fin length in fish. Lab studies on rats have shown that triclosan is toxic to normal liver enzymes. In humans, this preservative has been linked to allergies, asthma, and eczema.
Of further concern, triclosan has been identified as a contaminant in umbilical cord samples collected by Greenpeace International and Britain's World Wifeline Fund. Furthermore, surveys in Sweden have also identified triclosan in the breast milk of 60 percent of women tested.
Based on these concerns, a 2005 advisory panel to the FDA concluded that triclosan posed "unacceptable health and environmental risks." However, the FDA still ignores this warning.
CONTACT:
Samuel S. Epstein, MD
Professor emeritus Environmental and Occupational Medicine, University of Illinois at Chicago
School of Public Health
Chairman, Cancer Prevention Coalition
Chicago, Illinois 60612
Email: epstein@uic.edu
Web: http://www.preventcancer.com/
To subscribe: http://ens-news.net/lists/?p=subscribe&id=9
Whenever they issue a warning, it is invariably at least 10 years late, and watered down to the point of being nearly worthless.
First, the fruit is a good soap.
The seed is comparable to jatropha for making biofuel.
The timber is heavy.
The plant is full of medicinal molecules that kill everything from sperm to snails, if used in targeted fashion. Other ones protect the liver and kill HIV.
Any other ag waste produced from the crop can be made into biochar and returned to the soil where it will sequester the carbon for thousands of years while making a fertile, self-regenerating soil.
This is what local communities need to start doing now.
switch around. They sooner or later will get the message who put them in power. Our only recourse!
It's true that the worst season for flu transmission is about over at least here in the northern hemisphere, still though baskets were so bad, the study scientist said he would rather drink toilet water than water with the bacteria from baskets?
http://www.drbronner.com/
http://www.mrsmeyers.com/
This and all the other synthetic chemicals are changing our DNA and our environment in very bad ways.
Nanotech will destroy what is left of this civilization.
http://www.aolnews.com/category/nanotech/
But the scientists will earnestly believe that they are doing something great.
Science has brought us many comforts, many luxuries, but in the end, all these attempts to alleviate suffering will result in the things that degrade and destroy our planet.
The Taoist adage, "What you resist, you become", is just so painfully coming true.
Wash your hands with warm water and fat-based soap. Lather hands for at least 10-20 seconds before rinsing.
Rinse/gargle with 1/8 tsp salt or a capful of hydrogen peroxide in 8 oz warm water. Better yet, skip the "mouthwash." Use floss and a tongue scraper. Brush your teeth with baking soda.
Clean your house with a combination of borax, vinegar, baking soda, washing soda and (in small, judicious amounts) bleach in warm/hot water. And ammonia in warm water for your windows if vinegar doesn't do it for you.
Wash your sheets, towels and dish cloths in hot water and non-detergent washing soda. Use vinegar in the rinse instead of lquid or dryer sheet fabric softener.
Scrub cutting boards with salt and/or lemon juice. If you insist on plastic cutting boards (which harbor bacteria in every single nick and scratch and need to be cleaned just as thoroughly and regularly as wooden boards), put them in the dishwasher after every use, or soak them in hot water with some bleach after scrubbing.
There are several alternatives to dish detergent for the sink and the dishwasher. Same with fabric soap for the washer.
And.....STOP USING WATERLESS HAND CLEANERS!!!! They don't kill enough bacteria or viruses to be worth the money, and they irritate your skin.
I just got a bag of the soap nuts (Sapindus mukorossi) and I love them. When they are won't make any more suds, you add them to the mulch or compost. My towels have never been so soft. To me, they smell a bit like apricots, a slightly fruity smell, pleasant.
Of course, the next step for me was to order viable seeds and I am now waiting for them to germinate. The soap nuts (actually, they are the dried fruits) will safely and gently clean everything else from your hair to your car, you can put them in a little muslin bag and toss it in the wash, or I like to put them in a jar and add hot water, shake them up and pour the sudsy liquid over my clothes. Six soapnuts will give about 5 wash loads.
Best, they are not any more expensive than what you are using. Maybe cheaper. Many vendors on internet, read several and compare. One herb company sells them for $6. a pound, these also still have the seeds in them.
I think every town should be surrounded by forests of these trees, every part of the tree is useful.
http://www.beyondpesticides.org/pesticides/factsheets/Triclosan%20cited.pdf
Btw, Dr. Epstein, I have 2 degrees from UIC--glad to see a prof from my alma mater here on HP!
This plant will play a big role in sustainable communities of the future. Check out the scientific abstracts and see what research is now being done:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez
Steve MDFP, I think the critical issue is that triclosan has known health & environmental impacts. Yet, there is absolutely no proof that it actually helps prevent illness, which is what the consumers believes antibacterial products will do. If it only as effective as soap & water why risk it?
If you would like to learn more about our campaign, please visit our website: http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/water/chemical-contaminants/what-is-lurking-in-your-soap
-Kathy Dolan at Food & Water Watch
And these blisters were also on my FEET. The doctor gave me all sorts of cortisone creams, claiming it was something called dyshidrosis for which there is no known cause or cure.
EVENTUALLY I DISCOVERED THAT IT WAS TRICLOSAN. In soap, toothpaste, deodorant, plastics......even shopping cart handles. If I touch a shopping cart handle (the thick plastic ones) I have blisters for two weeks.
I have to carry my own soap with me for public restrooms, and I cannot touch anything at the sink because the triclosan residue will again cause these blisters. They are "systemic" meaning that getting triclosan on my hands leads to the blisters on my feet.
Granted, very few people have this reaction to triclosan..........but I can't be the only one, right???