Guess I haven’t had a toothpaste rant for a while now, so it’s time for another one! Am I the only one who gets annoyed that half the time my particular type of toothpaste isn’t stocked in stores? It’s not that I use some weird, off-brand toothpaste or anything; it’s just that most of the toothpaste shelf space these days is devoted to whitening formulas, rather than the plain old, not-quite-original formula. Same goes for trying to find liquid hand soaps that aren’t antibacterial (maybe one or two out of ten).
Interestingly—and we finally get to the real point of this post—a major ingredient of both antibacterial soaps and whitening toothpaste is the antibacterial chemical triclosan. There are a couple of problems with the burgeoning use of triclosan in these types of products, one environmental; one sociological:
Triclosan causes problems in health and the environment. There is some evidence that triclosan can react with chlorinated tap water and UV to form other compounds, particularly dioxins. Remember, we are talking about minute amounts, but dioxins accumulate in the body over time, and if a chemical’s not absolutely necessary, why use it? Environmentally, traces of many man-made chemicals including triclosan have leached out into water tables, with serious effects on wildlife. Low doses of triclosan can cause endocrine problems in bullfrogs. (Poor old frogs are always the first to get hammered with whatever idiocies humans have rained on the environment.) Whitening toothpaste also adds unnecessary levels of hydrogen peroxide (the same stuff as in hair bleaching kits) into our waterways.
People are getting brainwashed to think that these products are good and necessary. Antibacterial soaps are only of use to the lazy: Normal soaps work just as well in removing bacteria, as long as you scrub for a few seconds. Triclosan just works for a longer period of time, coating your skin even after the soap’s been washed off (ewww). And don’t get me started on the silliness of the whole concept of tooth whiteners!
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James says:
August 19, 2007 at 11:25 am (UTC 0)
The big problem with antibacterial soaps is that they kill all the bacteria vulnerable to their antibacterial agent, leaving the resistant ones to reproduce. Basically, they’re a way to breed resistant bacteria faster. I’ve heard that Japan, where people are kinda bacteriophobic (cleanliness is a core teaching of Shinto), they are starting to have problems with this.
Laura says:
August 19, 2007 at 1:05 pm (UTC 0)
I wasn’t going to go into the resistant bacteria argument, since research on that front is still unclear. However, it makes perfect logical sense to me. And frankly, the idea of nuking all skin bacteria (beneficial as well as bad) for hours over the day (from your triclosan-covered hands) is kinda grody.
Pamela says:
August 20, 2007 at 12:11 pm (UTC 0)
Please I heard that you should wash your hands more often with any soap and you should not take a shower every day cause ( yes Wash with soap and water with a face cloth but there is good bacteria and there is bad) But I think company’s want to make money and think customer’s will buy it instead of using our common sense. That’s my two cent’s in
Reid says:
August 20, 2007 at 3:02 pm (UTC 0)
This hit slashdot a few days ago: Anti-Bacterial Soap No Better Than Plain Soap