Since 2000, the American Medical Association (AMA) has been advising the Food and Drug Administration to closely monitor and possibly regulate the home use of antimicrobials. Not a bad idea, considering researchers discovered the use of antibacterial dish soaps and other products may be exposing consumers to significant quantities of chloroform.
This is because, when triclosan (a chemical known for its bacteria-fighting properties) is mixed with the chlorine in tap water, chloroform is born.
How does this affect consumer health? For starters, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has classified chloroform as a probable human carcinogen, or substance causing cancer. Moreover, as triclosan flows down drains, it makes its way into:
Danger of Triclosan in Dish Soaps
While triclosan contaminates numerous products (i.e. toothpastes, acne treatments, lotions and hand soaps), researchers particularly focused on dish soaps.
Conducting follow-up testing that closely mirrored typical dishwashing habits and conditions, researchers found that triclosan reacted with free chlorine to generate more than 50 parts per billion (ppb) of chloroform in the dishwater.
According to researchers, when combined with the other trihalomethanes in the water, the additional chloroform could easily drive the concentration of total trihalomethanes to 80 ppb, which is EPA's maximum allowable amount, or higher. (If any bromide is present in the water, the level of trihalomethanes produced during dishwashing is likely to increase even more.)
Research also suggested that the reaction of triclosan with chlorine could produce highly chlorinated dioxins in the presence of sunlight.
Environmental Science & Technology April 6, 2005
Environmental Science & Technology April 2, 2005
Newswise April 11, 2005
That's right, you read that correctly. The AMA has been telling us for five years that we should reduce usage of antibacterial soaps. I have been concerned with this issue myself for over seven years now.
Bottom line: Read the label on your dishwashing detergent and if it has triclosan, trash it if you are using chlorinated water to wash your dishes.
I happen to use well water and my source of water is from my backyard so there is no chlorine to interact with triclosan, but most households obtain their water from a municipality.
This latest study simply provides us with the latest reasons to avoid the use of anti-bacterial products whenever possible.
Please don't get me wrong. I understand the value of antibiotics, and I will recommend them whenever they are truly necessary. However, I am also acutely aware of the benefit that certain infections provide.
The basic issue that is important to understand is that the world you live in today is not the world your body was meant to live in. You were meant to have regular contact with dirt and everything it comes with. When you do so, especially growing up as a child, it trains your immune system to function correctly.
Simply speaking, your immune system is composed of two main groups that work together to protect you. One arm of the immune system deploys specialized white blood cells, called Th1 lymphocytes, that direct an assault on infected cells throughout your body.
Counterbalancing this, another arm of the immune system attacks intruders even earlier. It produces antibodies that try to block dangerous microbes from invading the body's cells in the first place. This latter strategy uses a different variety of white blood cells, called Th2 lymphocytes. The Th2 system also happens to drive allergic responses to foreign organisms.
At birth, an infant's immune system appears to rely primarily on the Th2 system. According to the hygiene hypothesis, the Th1 system can grow stronger only if it gets exercise, either through fighting infections or through encounters with certain harmless microbes. Without such stimulation, the Th2 system flourishes and the immune system tends to react with allergic responses more easily.
This entire process is one of the many reasons I strongly recommend researching the pros and cons of vaccines before you make the decision to use them on your child.
This process also gives enough reason to limit your use of antibacterial products. However, in case you aren't convinced already, the above study suggests there might be some even better ones.
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