Tag: triclosan

  • When good hygiene comes with a dose of toxins

    HFI: Did you brush your teeth? Did you wash your hands? As moms we ask this to our children about 10 times a day. Depending on the toothpaste and soap your using, you could actually be exposing yourselves to toxic, hormone disrupting triclosan. Here is a pertinent article on the toxin and how to avoid it from EWG. 

    The chemical was once widely used in these and other personal care products as an antimicrobial agent. Many companies, including Johnson & Johnson and Proctor & Gamble, have removed it from products in recent years. Last year, the federal Food and Drug Administration finally banned triclosan from hand soap, an action for which EWG has long been advocating. But it is still allowed as an ingredient in toothpaste and other consumer products. Colgate continues to use it unnecessarily in its toothpaste.    

    A study by Brown University researchers, published in May in the journal Environmental Science & Technology, provided some startling evidence about just how much of the chemical can wind up in the bodies of pregnant women, babies and young children.

    Scientists tested urine samples of 389 mothers and their children – mothers were tested three times during pregnancy and children were tested periodically between the ages of 1 and 8. The results show that the levels of triclosan in children’s bodies increased as they got older, almost certainly from increased use of both toothpaste and hand soap. Children who washed their hands more than five times a day had levels of triclosan in their urine that were four times higher than those of children who reported washing their hands once a day.

    Children who had their urine tested within a day of brushing their teeth had levels 2.5 times higher than those who did not.

    In 2008, EWG found triclosan and 15 other toxic chemicals in the blood and urine of 20 teen girls from eight states and the District of Columbia.

     In a separate report from the same year, EWG assembled a list of all the products in which triclosan was approved for use.

    Here are a few tips from EWG for people interested in avoiding exposure to triclosan.

  • Triclosan Banned From Soaps, But Not Toothpaste

    Triclosan Banned From Soaps, But Not Toothpaste

    In September, the Food and Drug Administration placed a ban on soaps and certain antibacterial chemicals which contain 19 different chemicals, one of them being triclosan. The FDA has given companies one year to remove the chemicals from their products and get the ones containing it off the shelves.

    So why did the FDA ban triclosan from soaps and other antibacterial products? According to an article from New York Times, “Studies in animals have shown that triclosan and triclocarban can disrupt the normal development of the reproductive system and metabolism, and health experts warn that their effects could be the same in humans.” The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found the chemicals in the urine of three quarters of Americans.

    Triclosan is a chemical pesticide that has been a known endocrine disruptor and has shown to weaken heart muscle function, alter the shape of sperm, impair brain development, and contribute to bone deformation in animal studies.

    You might think this is a huge win for consumers, and it is, but the ban didn’t reach all products. Unfortunately triclosan is still present in many drugstore toothpastes.

    If this product is so dangerous that it’s now been banned from products that get washed off our skin, why is it still allowed in products that go into our mouths? According to the FDA, the benefits of triclosan in toothpastes still outweigh the risks. These benefits include reducing plaque and gum disease.

    However, there are natural alternatives to using this chemical to protect your oral health. Xylitol, for instance, has been shown to reduce plaque. The bacteria that creates plaque cannot metabolize xylitol allowing for less plaque buildup and the decay causing bacteria cannot stick to the teeth.

    To think you need triclosan or other chemicals in your toothpaste in order to prevent plaque is a naïve way of thinking. There are plenty of natural toothpastes that contain xylitol that can be even more beneficial to your oral health. Visit our page of xylitol products and find the best natural toothpaste option for you and your family.

    This article originally appeared at: http://xylitol.org/triclosan-banned-not-toothpaste/.