Redbud Remedies

Safety and Anti-Bacterial Soap

Posted on 04/16/2009 at 05:38PM +AddThis

The safety of anti-bacterial soap has been debated due to recent research suggesting that these soaps may do more harm than good. There is a lot at stake for the surfactant industry as the anti-bacterial soap market is a one-billion dollar industry and 76% of all liquid soap is anti-bacterial(1).

The environmental engineering department at UC Davis is currently conducting an in depth study of anti-bacterial soap. They say it is too early to know if anti-bacterial soap poses a serious risk to our health but they have concluded that anti-bacterial soap may not work any better than regular soap. In 2005 the FDA concluded that anti-bacterial soaps were no more effective in preventing illness than regular soaps, and they acknowledged that these soaps may contribute to the rise of resistant bacteria. According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), anti-bacterial soaps are not necessary to prevent the spread of disease. They suggest that thorough scrubbing with ordinary soap and warm water is one of the best ways to ward off infection (2). Researchers from UC Davis plan to meet with the CDC, EPA, and large manufacturers in the soap industry this October to review their findings (1).

The active anti-bacterial agents in these soaps are Triclosan and Triclocarban. Both of these active ingredients can be found in soaps, deodorants, mouthwash, toothpaste, kitchen plasticware, fabrics and cosmetics (1). Tricolosan and Triclocarban were developed in the 1950s and 1960s and were use in hospitals as antiseptic agents. Industry growth and demand for anti-bacterial products promoted the application and introduction of these agents into the surfactant industry during the 1990s (1).

What did the UC Davis researchers find in their studies?

It is important to note that the research from UC Davis does not contradict industry studies sugesting Triclosan Triclocarban are safe for most people. The researchers did conclude that there are sensitive periods in development when these chemicals could have subtle detrimental effects (during pregnancy, early childhood, adolescence)(1). The UC Davis team concluded that there are potential risks associated with the use of anti-bacterial soaps. They also concluded that the benefits attributed to anti-bacterial soap are negligible and that the risks associated with their use far outweigh any benefits afforded to these products(1).

In the March 2008 issue of Endocrinology, the researchers published results of studies in animals showing that triclocarban appears to amplify the effects of hormones, telling cells to keep doing something after they normally would have stopped. Researchers tested triclocarban on human cells grown in the lab. When exposed to estrogen and triclocarban together, the cells produced more of an enzyme than with estrogen alone.In a separate test published in the Endocrinology study, the prostate glands of rats exposed to triclocarban and testosterone grew bigger than those given testosterone alone.Such studies cannot be repeated in humans for ethical reasons, so researchers must infer that triclocarban could have the same effect in humans (1).

Lathering up for a single bath with soap containing triclocarban gives a person the same dose and exposure to triclocarban that rats received in the study. “We do know that people, after a shower, or after an acute exposure, can have levels that could have an effect on their hormones,” says Bill Lasley, PhD, a researcher in the department of population health and reproduction at U.C. Davis. “I have no doubt that it has a subtle effect, but I of course question whether it has a serious effect”(1).

Anti-Bacterial Soap And The Environment

The U.C. Davis researchers are the first to use cutting-edge molecular technology to study potential effects of triclosan and triclocarban on the human nervous system and hormones. Studies show that these chemicals are building up in the environment at an alarming rate. Americans dump more than 1 million pounds of triclosan and triclocarban into the environment every year.

Rolf Halden, PhD, a scientist at Arizona State University, found that sewage treatment captures only about 50% of the triclosan and less than 25% of the triclocarban that goes down people’s drains.Halden published a study this month in Environmental Science and Technology showing that the chemicals don’t quickly break down in the environment. He found these chemicals in sediment dating back 40-50 years (1).

A recent CDC study detected triclosan in the urine of 75% of Americans aged 6 and older.“The disappointing news is that we continue to use these chemicals against better knowledge,” Halden says. “They do not have an observable benefit. But we do know they persist in the environment, and now these more recent studies show that they are not as benign as we might have thought”(1).

1. (Downs, webmd.com), Safety of Anti-bacterial soap debated.
2.. (howstuffworks.com), Is anti-bacterial soap any better than regular soap.

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