Health pro-tip: triclosan

[']['ear]

This study adds to growing evidence that triclosan, an antibacterial compound added to many soaps and other consumer products, can augment the effects of estrogen by advancing the onset of puberty and stimulating uterine growth in rodents.
Triclosan is used in a broad variety of products, including liquid and bar soaps, toothpastes, deodorants, cutting boards, food containers, baby bibs, toys and (!) hair products. Beyond concerns that this widespread non-essential use can contribute to the emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, there are an increasing number of reports that triclosan has estrogenic effects. Unlike other environmental estrogens like the plastics monomer bisphenol A and the detergent derivative nonylphenol, which can directly bind and activate estrogen receptors (ERs), triclosan does not appear to bind ERs. Instead, recent work suggests it interferes with estrogen modification and excretion. In the current study, the authors report that triclosan enhances the ability of estrogen to induce early vaginal opening (a marker for puberty) and uterine weight gain (the long-standing EPA gold standard for estrogenic action). The lowest dose found to increase the uterine response was estimated to be about ten-fold lower than the higher range of levels found in human plasma. Given the pervasive and increasing use of triclosan, its near-ubiquitous detection in humans, and its status as frequent contaminant in surface waters, the results of this study argue for further research on potential effects on both humans and wildlife.

http://f1000biology.com/article/id/4315956/evaluation
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/en...isrctnuncchlib

Well, the wife and I have been avoiding triclosan for a while, because as with antibiotics, bugs can develop resistance. Most notably many Colgate toothpastes have it as some sort of anti-plaque treatment, while Crest does not. {Ingesting triclosan? STOOPID.}

Now some research is coming out that triclosan has potential biological effects. Not mentioned, but estrogenics can make certain breast and others cancers MUCH worse. I'd recommend not pouring triclosan all over everything.

Oh, and detergents are excellent antimicrobials. You really don't need this crap in your home unless you are working with lots of meats and are a slob. It's all a marketing gimmick. Totally inessential outside of hospitals (where we really need it, and thus it would be phenomenally stupid to generate triclosan-resistant bugs, which have already been observed in the lab).

Just a health tip for y'all.

[Dreadnaught]

Huh. Any idea how long it's been used in consumer products?

[Aimless]

Since the '70s. The idiots have been putting it into many different products in order to sucker people into paying more for eg. extra-hygienic cleaning rags.

This may end up being one of the funnier case-studies in the medical education of the future I wonder if it really has had a significant impact on eg. western populations wrt hormonal changes :heart;

[']['ear]

It is the principal non-antibiotic "antimicrobial." AFAIK they started putting it into soaps in the 90s, and pitching them as "cleaner." It's really hogwash, and there's never been any need for them outside of hospitals, where pathogenic bugs are legion. It's part of the whole "scare the crap out of people about something they don't know about" marketing strategy. Works great. Fear is the best motivator.

Just so folks know, soap is great stuff. Wash with soap, be conscious of where raw meat goes and don't put meat on wood (bugs can get in the fibers), and you'll be fine. No need to lysol and bleach the shit out of everything like the advertise on TV, and plenty of reasons NOT to.

[Elanya Rodillia]

Argh! I get annoyed at the very least when I see commercials for anti-bacterial this and anti-microbial that, and sometimes I even get mad. Why does your toilet bowl need to be scoured free of germs? Are you thinking about washing your clothes in there? Why do you need your air freshener to kill airborne bacteria? I'm convinced that the rising rates of allergies and asthma are due to the fact that kids' immune systems are under-stimulated.

[Lewkowski]

Meh - more worrying about nothing. I remember reading years ago about the dangers of super bugs resistant to everything because of the different types of antibiotics used. Guess what... they came up with more strains. Just like people predicted that the world couldn't sustain a population of 7 billion, well guess what we can. Alarm-ism is rampant and honestly this isn't something that would come close to me being worried about.

[Aimless]

Meh - more worrying about nothing. I remember reading years ago about the dangers of super bugs resistant to everything because of the different types of antibiotics used.

I don't know how you've missed this but antibiotic resistance is a huge problem today we haven't really been doing a sufficiently good job of creating newer and better (ie. safe and effective) antibiotics. People suffer because of it, how have you managed to miss this??

[earthJoker]

Ignorance?

[RandBlade]

Meh - more worrying about nothing. I remember reading years ago about the dangers of super bugs resistant to everything because of the different types of antibiotics used. Guess what... they came up with more strains. Just like people predicted that the world couldn't sustain a population of 7 billion, well guess what we can. Alarm-ism is rampant and honestly this isn't something that would come close to me being worried about.

Guessing you've never heard of MRSA then.

[Aimless]

Or antibiotic resistant strains of pretty much every single common type of bacterial human pathogen and many less common ones.

[Khendraja'aro]

Meh - more worrying about nothing. I remember reading years ago about the dangers of super bugs resistant to everything because of the different types of antibiotics used. Guess what... they came up with more strains. Just like people predicted that the world couldn't sustain a population of 7 billion, well guess what we can. Alarm-ism is rampant and honestly this isn't something that would come close to me being worried about.

Then you haven't seen a hospital wing under MRSA rules yet. It's a huge pain in the ass which leads to reduced health care for the patient in question - because if you as a nurse or doctor have to scrub down every time you go see a MRSA inflicted patient (and the whole wing is under quarantine, by the way), you'll reduce your contacts to the minimum.

And you have to take care because the bugs can grown immune faster than you can come up with new strains of antibiotics (if you find new ones at all - it isn't exactly engineering where you can simply build a new toy).

Argh! I get annoyed at the very least when I see commercials for anti-bacterial this and anti-microbial that, and sometimes I even get mad. Why does your toilet bowl need to be scoured free of germs? Are you thinking about washing your clothes in there? Why do you need your air freshener to kill airborne bacteria? I'm convinced that the rising rates of allergies and asthma are due to the fact that kids' immune systems are under-stimulated.

Curr Opin Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2004 Jun;12(3):232-6.
The hygiene theory: fact or fiction?
Sheikh A, Strachan DP.

Division of Community Health Sciences: GP Section, University of Edinburgh, UK. aziz.sheikh@ed.ac.uk
Abstract
PURPOSE OF REVIEW: The "hygiene hypothesis" offers a potentially credible and parsimonious explanation for the increasing prevalence of allergy noted in many westernized populations. The authors review recent evidence both for and against this hypothesis. RECENT FINDINGS: A strong body of epidemiologic evidence indicates that the original observations, namely of a birth order effect and increased risk of atopic disorders in those born into small, affluent households, are robust findings. Improved hygiene is believed to mediate its effect through decreased exposure to infectious agents in early life, and recent evidence has focused attention on the importance of the gastrointestinal microbial environment. In particular, infection with hepatitis A, Helicobacter pylori, and toxoplasma in those living in temperate climates, and geoheminths in those living in endemic areas, have been shown to be associated with reduced risk of atopic manifestations. It is postulated that these infections exert their effect through critically altering T-helper (Th)1/Th2 regulation, which is supported by the examination of the cytokine profiles of cord mononuclear cells when exposed to gastrointestinal flora and, furthermore, emerging evidence on the benefits of probiotics on symptoms of atopic dermatitis. Attempts to identify an inverse relation between Th1- and Th2-mediated disorders (as might be predicted by the Th1/Th2 paradigm) have, however, yielded conflicting results, raising the possibility that this model may be something of an oversimplification. SUMMARY: The hygiene hypothesis remains a credible but nonspecific explanation for observed variations over time, place and persons at risk for developing atopic allergic disorders. More prospective studies are needed to unravel which infectious agents exert a protective effect and the time period of importance for sensitization. The clinical implications of these advances in our understanding of the etiology of atopic allergic disorders are currently limited.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15167035

[']['ear]

Meh - more worrying about nothing. I remember reading years ago about the dangers of super bugs resistant to everything because of the different types of antibiotics used. Guess what... they came up with more strains. Just like people predicted that the world couldn't sustain a population of 7 billion, well guess what we can. Alarm-ism is rampant and honestly this isn't something that would come close to me being worried about.

FAIL. Both my father-in-law and my father spent weeks in the hospital battling MRSA. Had either of them started with a more serious health problem, they may have died. The human welfare angle may not appeal to you, but it also costs lots of MONEY.

[Aimless]

Talk about a tragedy of the commons

[LittleFuzzy]

Meh - more worrying about nothing. I remember reading years ago about the dangers of super bugs resistant to everything because of the different types of antibiotics used. Guess what... they came up with more strains. Just like people predicted that the world couldn't sustain a population of 7 billion, well guess what we can. Alarm-ism is rampant and honestly this isn't something that would come close to me being worried about.

Lewk, the super-bug problem isn't one of an strain that is going to wipe out humanity. It's simply one of a number of deaths that could have been prevented by thinking ahead. Preventable death is BAD, remember?

[']['ear]

Talk about a tragedy of the commons

Well, antibiotic resistance is FAR worse that triclosan resistance. I first heard about it in my Sophomore Energetics and Genetics class, where I was essentially taught that the rise of something like MRSA was inevitable based on evolutionary principles, unless something was done. Top journals publish commentaries on it every couple of years since. Yay! Guess what? And nobody has done shit all along.

[Supermarioman]

The only real solution to antibiotic resistance is Nanomachines, unfortunately.

Once we have those current medicine becomes obsolete.

[']['ear]

No it's not. The solution to antibiotic resistance is a) to stop spamming ALL livestock with antibiotics (most important) and b) to stop giving any person with a runny nose antibiotics (it's usually a virus or allergies, not a sinus infection). What we have is an unfettered free market result. Hooray unfettered free market!

[Khendraja'aro]

Well, antibiotic resistance is FAR worse that triclosan resistance. I first heard about it in my Sophomore Energetics and Genetics class, where I was essentially taught that the rise of something like MRSA was inevitable based on evolutionary principles, unless something was done. Top journals publish commentaries on it every couple of years since. Yay! Guess what? And nobody has done shit all along.

Norway actually has not much of a problem with MRSA due to listening.

[']['ear]

Bully for them. It's kind of silly that science has to PROVE that likely harmful activities are actually harmful? Shouldn't the burden be on the other side? To reasonably show that product is unlikely to be harmful? This is kind of a no-brainer with triclosan: it's not necessary outside of the hospital, and as anti-bacterial, there's a claear and obvious concern about resistance.

The antibiotic resistance is far worse. We've KNOWN for 30 years that antibiotic resistant bugs develop with use, yet because of industry lobbying (a cartel, in fact), politicians have done nothing. Now people are dying.

[Khendraja'aro]

Fun part: The Norwegians have problems due to visitors from other countries carrying MRSA into Norway.

[']['ear]

But the US has the best health care in the world!

[earthJoker]

I haven't seen US meat here for a while, don't know if it is even allowed with all that stuff you guys put in it. But Friedman would state that this would only be anti-Americanism. Yes I still remember that post (I think it was Dread or Loki) about Friedman's conclusion that this stuff has only to be declared because of anti-Americanism.

[Dreadnaught]

The US and Europe gets large quantities of meat from Argentina. I doubt the Argentines put stuff in their meat destined for Amerika versus EU countries.

[earthJoker]

Why not?

[Unheard Of]

Once we have those current medicine becomes obsolete.

That rather depends on the cost (in all senses of the word) of using nanomachines and the publics acceptance of the technique. As ']['ear says, there are some common sense solutions that would reduce the problem.