Antibacterial Products Hastings NE

By Deirdre Shevlin Bell

You’ve already heard about the dangers of antibacterial products—they cause the formation of super-bacteria, lead to allergies, and destroy fragile aquatic ecosystems. That’s all bad enough, but a new study suggests these household items may go far beyond that, turning regular tap water into poison.

The researchers sought to determine how the ubiquitous antibacterial agent triclosan reacts with chemicals commonly used to treat water. The results show some pretty scary stuff. Triclosan, the most commonly used antibacterial in personal care products—showing up in half of all commercial soaps, as well as some toothpastes, deodorants, and shampoos—forms chloroform when it combines with free chlorine and chloramines, the most commonly used disinfectants in drinking water.

If chloroform doesn’t ring a bell, think back to the field hospital in those black-and-white war flicks. Until the early 20th century, it was the anesthetic of choice—that is, until it was determined to cause sudden death. More recently, research has shown that chloroform, in small doses, causes dizziness, fatigue, and headache. In higher doses, it’s likely to damage the liver and kidneys—animals that ingested chloroform in studies developed cancer of those organs. Other animal studies have shown chloroform exposure to cause miscarriage, birth defects, and abnormal sperm.

It’s the type of thing that should be kept under lock and key, but instead it forms when you run water over your toothbrush. So double-check the ingredients before you pick up that double-whitening toothpaste.

Author: Deirdre Shevlin Bell

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