Triclosan, a potent, wide-spectrum antibacterial and antifungal agent, is found in many consumer products, including cosmetics, liquid hand soap, toothpaste, detergent, face wash, plastics for children's toys and items such as mattresses and shoe insoles.
It is not very soluble in water but is fat-soluble and can cross cell membranes. Once inside the cell, it poisons specific enzymes that many bacteria and funguses need to survive. The specific way that triclosan kills concerns researchers about its role in creating antibiotic resistant bacteria.
Triclosan has been linked to liver and inhalation toxicity and low levels may disrupt thyroid function. It is highly toxic to aquatic life. Wastewater treatment does not remove all of the chemical. It therefore ends up in lakes, rivers and water sources.There is also concern that, when mixed with tap water, it may combine with cholorine to form chloroform gas, which the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has classified as a carcinogen. In the fall of 2005, an advisory panel for the Food & Drug Administration (FDA), which regulates triclosan's use in consumer products such as anti-bacterial soaps, considered the question of the effectiveness of antibacterial products. It concluded that there was no evidence proving that antibacterial soaps were more effective than regular soaps for preventing infection, although as of October 2008, the EPA was still evaluating its environmental risks.
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