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| Triclosan is now labeled on all products in the US |
The chemical I'm talking about is triclosan. This antibacterial chemical used to be confined to the medical field, where it was used to kill germs and dangerous bacteria. In the hospital setting it is a great tool. I want the tools used to perform my surgery to be beyond sterile!
The problem with triclosan comes when it is used multiple times daily, in multiple products, in our homes. When you wash your hands with soap that contains triclosan, it is absorbed through your skin and enters your blood stream; there it can cause skin irritation and endocrine disruption. It has been shown to lower thyroid hormone & testosterone; it mimics estrogen in your body & encourages the growth of tumors. It affects your immune system, and has been linked to increased allergies in children.
Have you heard of "superbugs?" Drug resistant germs & bacteria? Antibacterial soaps are making these germs WORSE!! The germs are actually mutating to be resistant to triclosan and antibiotics... YIKES!
If that wasn't enough, it is really bad for the environment! It gets washed down the drain, and "cleaned up" at the water treatment plants. Some of it still gets into our water, about 2-3%, and that is enough to disrupt the fragile ecosystems in our oceans & rivers! It is killing a very important algae.
The last thing, and the most aggravating thing to me, is that even the FDA says that antimicrobial soaps are NO MORE EFFECTIVE at cleaning your hands than PLAIN soap and water!!!!! We are told by manufacturers that we NEED to KILL those germs, we NEED there antibacterial soaps and products... but you don't! Washing your hands for 30 seconds with soap and water rids your hands of 99% of germs and bacteria. Soap and water can even kill mold!
So, check your soap... ditch the triclosan and just wash your hands!
(Save those pump bottles!! Kristen is going to be telling you how to make your own SAFE and frugal pump soap very soon...)
Love and bubbles,
Robin
Further reading on Triclosan
http://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletters/Harvard_Health_Letter/2007/January/The_handiwork_of_good_health
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=117985
http://environmentaldefence.ca/time-ban-triclosan-household-use
http://www.beyondpesticides.org/antibacterial/triclosan.php
