Triclosan

[Guest guest]

Amazingly, I just got word about this same thing yeasterday. Here is what a

friend sent to me: 'Triclosan goes right to the thyroid, and looks like thyroid

hormone, but causes hypothyroidism, similar to 's Disease, in which copper

accumulates in the brain..so you have low body temperature.'

Thank you so much for sharing. I am sure that all public bathrooms have this

antibacterial ingredient.

Blessings!

cherwyn ambuter <cherwyn@...> wrote:

Someone sent a warning in to another thyroid board - I did some

research on this and found it to be true. Triclosan, a common antibacterial

ingredient found in detergents, cutting boards, children's toys, and even

athletic clothiong, interferes with thyroid.

~Cherwyn

http://www.vitaletherapeutics.org/vtltclxn.htm

http://www.oztoxics.org/ntn/triclosan%20briefing.pdf

" And in one place

(http://www.mcl.tulane.edu/ecme/eehome/sources/conference/reviews/ehormone10_02.\

html), Triclosan, among other substances, was said to have an " endocrine

disrupting potential " . "

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Common Household Chemical May Pose Human Health Risk

An antibacterial agent used in common household items such as soaps, toothpaste,

processed food, and clothing represents a potential health risk to human hormone

action, says a new study co-authored by a University of researcher.

The study, published online this week in Aquatic Toxicology, examined the

effects of the antibacterial agent known as triclosan on the development, or

metamorphosis, of tadpoles into frogs. The study showed that when tadpoles are

exposed to levels of triclosan commonly found in the environment, frog

metamorphosis that relies on thyroid hormones was significantly disrupted.

Triclosan is of particular concern to toxicologists because it is structurally

similar to thyroid hormones, which play a crucial role in early human

development.

" Thyroid hormones and the mechanisms by which they affect cells are highly

conserved from frog to mammal, " says Dr. Caren Helbing, a UVic molecular

biologist. " It's highly likely that what affects frogs could affect mammals,

even humans. "

Triclosan is used in a wide variety of products, including clothing, food,

personal care products, and some plastics to make them more bacteria-resistant.

It is present in municipal effluents, is persistent in the environment, and

accumulates up the food chain.

The study found that as little as one-millionth of a gram per litre of triclosan

interferes with thyroid hormones and their ability to direct the genes

responsible for frog metamorphosis. This is the same concentration of triclosan

found in 85 waterways tested across the U.S. in another, recent study.

Triclosan has also been detected in human breast milk, notes Helbing. " These

levels are in the general range of what we tested, so triclosan may be having an

impact on babies during a vulnerable time when thyroid hormones are important in

their development. "

Helbing hopes this study will spur further research into how low doses of

triclosan might be affecting human and wildlife health. " Given that there's

already concern over the indiscriminate use of this product and the promotion of

resistant bacteria, it would seem prudent to limit its use to those products

where it's really needed. "

To see a copy of the paper visit www.sciencedirect.com and click on " Articles in

Press. "

~from http://communications.uvic.ca/releases/release.php?display=release & id=759

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Researchers Sour On Antibacterial Soap

By McCulloch

VICTORIA, CANADA -- Whether you're washing your hands or the kitchen

countertops, it's best for your family's health and the environment to pass up

antibacterial products in favour of plain soap and water, a University of

researcher has found.

UVic molecular biologist Caren Helbing found while triclosan -- common in soaps,

clothing, toys and other items having antibacterial properties -- isn't lethal

in small quantities, it can potentially affect the human thyroid gland. The

thyroid plays a role in development, body temperature and metabolism.

" For most things, regular soap is just fine. In terms of children's products,

they shouldn't have triclosan in them at all, " Helbing said in an interview.

Helbing's research, published last week in the online journal Aquatic

Toxicology, found triclosan to be harmful in the development of frogs and

potentially humans. At the molecular level, the chemical compound is similar to

vertibrates' thyroid hormone. Helbing found triclosan at levels found in the

environment disrupted a tadpole's transition into a frog.

" Frogs serve as a very sensitive sentinel species for chemicals that can

actually disrupt thyroid hormone action, " said Helbing. " Triclosan at levels

measured in our waterways can actually affect how thyroid hormones works in

frogs. "

The chemical compound is man-made for the purpose of killing bacteria and is

showing up in more consumer products. Easy-clean items marketed as containing

" Microban " contain triclosan, said Helbing. But Helbing said triclosan is not

necessary to clean up most household spills, and other scientists agree.

" When you ask a qualified microbiologist, they'll tell you that it's being

overdone and there's probably a greater chance of creating bacterial resistance

than preventing problems, " said Joe Schwarcz, director of McGill University's

Office for Science and Society. " Washing with soap and water is enough, except

in a hospital environment ... You don't want to use a jackhammer to kill an ant

when stepping on it will do.

" The reason why the triclosan story is interesting is it's so pervasive -- it's

in so many products. Even (though) the risk (of ill effects) is small, the

exposure is too large. "

Helbing agrees the prevalence of triclosan in the environment can make the fight

against antibiotic-resistant illnesses more difficult.

It can also affect normal human development: " There are a lot of different

processes in the body that can be affected. "

In March, the Canadian Paediatric Society called for parents to stop buying

antibacterial products, and instead use soap and water to wash toys, hands or

household items.

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Germ Fighter Works As Endocrine Disrupter

By Janet Pelley

Triclosan, widely used in soaps and toothpastes for its ability to kill

bacteria, has been found to hasten the transformation of tadpoles into adult

frogs. The new research, published online September 29 in Aquatic Toxicology, is

the first to show that triclosan can act as an endocrine disrupter at

concentrations found in North American streams.

Although sewage treatment plants remove most of the triclosan washed down the

drain, the chemical makes its way into U.S. streams at readily detectable

levels. More than 55% of streams examined in 2002 had a median concentration of

0.14 parts per billion (ppb) (Environ. Sci. Technol. 2002, 36, 1201-1211).

Previous studies have shown that triclosan, which has a similar chemical

structure to polybrominated diphenyl ethers and PCBs, bioaccumulates in fish and

is present in human breast milk, according to Caren Helbing, who is a molecular

biologist at the University of (Canada) and a coauthor of the study.

Intrigued by triclosan's structural similarity to thyroid hormones, which

orchestrate growth and development in wildlife and humans, Helbing and her

colleagues set out to determine whether triclosan could interfere with

thyroid-hormone activity in frogs.

When the team exposed young bullfrog tadpoles-which do not yet produce thyroid

hormones-to triclosan alone, they did not observe any significant changes.

However, when the tadpoles were exposed to triclosan and thyroid hormones

together, the scientists documented a mosaic of impacts.

The triclosan effects included significant weight loss and accelerated hind-limb

development. Helbing and co-workers also detected elevated activity in the brain

of genes linked with uncontrolled cell growth, and decreased gene activity in

the tail fin. The data suggest that triclosan, at concentrations as low as 0.15

ppb, is capable of perturbing a fundamental hormone signaling mechanism that is

nearly identical in frogs and humans, she says.

" This experimental design is very clever because [Helbing] looked at both the

presence and absence of thyroid hormone, " says Tom Zoeller, an endocrinologist

at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. If Helbing had merely exposed the

tadpoles to triclosan alone, she would have missed adverse effects on the

thyroid system, he says. But because she added thyroid hormone along with

triclosan, she could see that the triclosan made the thyroid hormone much more

potent than it would have been under normal circumstances.

These results hint that triclosan does not mimic thyroid hormones but instead

speeds up their impact, says Propper, an endocrinologist at Northern

Arizona University. Although the mechanism is unknown, triclosan may be making

protein receptors in the cell more sensitive to thyroid hormones, Zoeller

speculates. Because thyroid-hormone signaling is essential for the development

of the human brain and body, the new study raises red flags for human health,

Zoeller says.

Current screening programs for endocrine disrupters, such as the protocols being

considered by the U.S. EPA, might miss the effects observed by Helbing and her

team, Zoeller says. Tests of contaminants might not be conducted in the presence

of natural hormones, or animals might be tested at a stage of life when the

targeted responses aren't sensitive to thyroid hormones, he says. Triclosan

producers declined to comment on this study for this story.

" The insidiousness of these compounds in the environment is that they don't

necessarily have a direct impact but can be inappropriately sensitizing or

desensitizing animals to their own endocrine environment, " Propper says. The

question to ask, she continues, is: " Do the antimicrobial gains you get from

using triclosan outweigh both the risks to wildlife and the potential human

health risks associated with it? "

~from http://www.destinationgreen.com/newsletter/DG1106/novarticle4.html

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1: Aquat Toxicol. 2006 Dec 1;80(3):217-27. Epub 2006 Sep 29. Links

The bactericidal agent triclosan modulates thyroid hormone-associated gene

expression and disrupts postembryonic anuran development.

a.. Veldhoen N,

b.. Skirrow RC,

c.. Osachoff H,

d.. Wigmore H,

e.. Clapson DJ,

f.. Gunderson MP,

g.. Van Aggelen G,

h.. Helbing CC.

Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, P.O. Box 3055, Stn. CSC, University

of , , British Columbia V8W 3P6, Canada.

We investigated whether exposure to environmentally relevant concentrations of

the bactericidal agent, triclosan, induces changes in the thyroid

hormone-mediated process of metamorphosis of the North American bullfrog, Rana

catesbeiana and alters the expression profile of thyroid hormone receptor (TR)

alpha and beta, basic transcription element binding protein (BTEB) and

proliferating nuclear cell antigen (PCNA) gene transcripts. Premetamorphic

tadpoles were immersed in environmentally relevant concentrations of triclosan

and injected with 1 x 10(-11)mol/g body weight 3,5,3'-triiodothyronine (T3) or

vehicle control. Morphometric measurements and steady-state mRNA levels obtained

by quantitative polymerase chain reaction were determined. mRNA abundance was

also examined in Xenopus laevis XTC-2 cells treated with triclosan and/or 10nM

T3. Tadpoles pretreated with triclosan concentrations as low as 0.15+/-0.03

microg/L for 4 days showed increased hindlimb development and a

decrease in total body weight following T3 administration. Triclosan exposure

also resulted in decreased T3-mediated TRbeta mRNA expression in the tadpole

tail fin and increased levels of PCNA transcript in the brain within 48 h of T3

treatment whereas TRalpha and BTEB were unaffected. Triclosan alone altered

thyroid hormone receptor alpha transcript levels in the brain of premetamorphic

tadpoles and induced a transient weight loss. In XTC-2 cells, exposure to T3

plus nominal concentrations of triclosan as low as 0.03 microg/L for 24h

resulted in altered thyroid hormone receptor mRNA expression. Exposure to low

levels of triclosan disrupts thyroid hormone-associated gene expression and can

alter the rate of thyroid hormone-mediated postembryonic anuran development.

PMID: 17011055 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

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[Guest guest]

http://www.ewg.org/reports/triclosan - this was mentioned as being found in

GSE; it's received a lot of attention lately; bottom line, avoid all sources

of this. -Sharon

Summary & Recommendations

By Sutton, PhD, EWG Scientist; Olga Naidenko, PhD, EWG Scientist;

Natalia Chwialkowski, EWG Intern; Jane Houlihan, Vice President for

Research, July 2008

With no assessment of health risks to infants, federal regulators have

approved a hormone-disrupting pesticide, triclosan, for use in 140 different

types of consumer products including liquid hand soap, toothpaste,

undergarments and children's toys. This exposure has been allowed despite

the fact that the chemical ends up in mothers' breast milk and poses

potential toxicity to fetal and childhood development.

[image: View EWG's guide to

Triclosan]<http://www.ewg.org/files/EWG_triclosanguide.pdf>

In addition to these risks, Environmental Working Group (EWG) finds no

evidence that triclosan's widespread use in liquid hand soap and other

products gives consumers the germ-killing benefits they are promised. The

American Medical Association, a Food and Drug Administration advisory

committee, and dozens of academic researchers have determined that

antimicrobial soap does not work any better than plain soap and water at

preventing the spread of infections or reducing bacteria on the skin.

[image: Triclosan in Your Home] <http://www.ewg.org/node/26752>

As required by law, the Environmental Protection Agency is now reviewing

health and safety data for triclosan. This is a critical process that could

lead to the stringent health and environmental protections needed to reduce

exposure to this toxic antimicrobial agent. However, EPA's draft risk

assessment of triclosan gives cause for concern: Plagued with data gaps and

inconsistencies, the assessment was crafted to support the status quo. (Read

EWG's letter to EPA <http://www.ewg.org/reports/node/26860>).

EPA has approved triclosan for use in 20 pesticide formulations applied to

consumer products from credit cards and countertops to baby bibs and

blankets. In a callous and unjustified abuse of federal pesticide law, EPA

failed to consider the safety of babies' and children's exposure to

triclosan in breast milk, mattresses, sleepers, blankets, bibs, toys, house

dust, diaper cream, and other potential sources when approving these uses.

Triclosan persists in the environment, breaks down into substances highly

toxic to wildlife, pollutes the human body, and poses health risks that are

barely studied and poorly understood. Because triclosan has been proven

ineffective, and EPA has failed to assess its safety for children, we

recommend:

- A ban on triclosan in personal care products and any other products

used at home, in line with the conclusion of the American Medical

Association that common antimicrobials for which resistance has been

demonstrated should " be discontinued in consumer products unless data emerge

that conclusively show that such resistance has no effect on public health

and that such products are effective at preventing infection. "

- For remaining non-consumer uses, EPA must fully assess the safety of

triclosan and its breakdown products for the fetus, infant, child, and other

vulnerable populations.

- Consumers should avoid the use of triclosan-laden products whenever

possible.

- Manufacturers should curtail their use of this toxic, persistent

chemical in consumer products, voluntarily in advance of mandatory

restrictions.

Triclosan in consumer products leads to widespread

pollution in people and the environment

--

Give me the liberty to know, to utter, and to argue freely according to

conscience, above all liberties. - Milton, Areopagitica

Deut 11:15 He will put grass in the fields for your cattle, and you will

have plenty to eat.

Check out my blog - www.ericsons.net - Food for the Body and Soul