There is no doubt that the simple act of washing your hands during the day is one of the best ways to prevent contamination and transmission of various germs between people. Before meals then it is a more than recommended hygiene method. However, there are confusions and concerns about the way people wash their hands, and more specifically the type of product used for cleaning. At this point, experts and health agencies are keenly questioning the use of the famous 'anti-bacterial soaps', especially those containing triclosan as an active ingredient.
At the outset, let's make one thing very clear: there is no scientific evidence that household soaps labeled 'anti-bacterial' are more effective than ordinary soaps for disease prevention during a typical handwash. That is, cleaning your hands with soap and water is as effective as using a "special" soap filled with suspicious substances, such as triclosan. If you want a more effective cleaning and remove / kill a wider spectrum of germs from your hand, a much better and safer option is the use of alcoholic cleaning solutions. With an aqueous solution between 60 and 95% alcohol (ethanol, in this case), you really gain an expressive degree of sanitation.
If soaps containing bactericidal agents, especially triclosan, were just a marketing scam to trick the consumer, that could even be looked at with thicker views. However, several studies over the years have pointed to the risks associated with the use of triclosan, including increasing the resistance of bacteria in our body to various antibiotics, changing the bacterial flora of the organism, damaging the fetus during pregnancy and altering the biochemical function of certain hormones. And the worst: these risks would come without any additional benefit to you.
Triclosan is a substance found in various personal care products, such as toothpaste, certain creams and, especially, bactericidal soaps
Although the negative effects of triclosan have only been seen in laboratory animals so far, including the promotion of certain types of cancers, large long-term studies covering a larger age range among people are still scarce. A recent review article published in Science (Ref.5) showed that about 75% of the bactericidal soaps have triclosan and that in 2008 it was found that about 75% of the urine samples in the USA had the substance, a much larger than imagined. This means that we already have this compound very well incorporated into our body to use it instead of the traditional route of cleaning. Because of this, there are already partial bans on the use of triclosan in the European Union and the state of Minnesota, USA.
In the laboratory, bacterial resistance is easily demonstrated when cultures of bacteria are exposed to the substance, but it must be admitted that damage to humans is uncertain. The triclosan is rapidly absorbed by the skin and the gastrointestinal tract, and in addition to the exposure through soap, we already find it in superficial water, underground and drinkable, due to the large consumption of products containing the compound. A study also published recently in Science (Ref.11), using mouse models for colitis and colon cancer, showed that the brief exposure of triclosan is enough to cause damage to the intestine, altering the intestinal biota and increasing inflammatory processes. In addition, the study also showed that triclosan increases the severity of colitis symptoms and promotes the growth of cancerous cells in the colon associated with colitis.
Although there are still inconclusions of the risks posed by triclosan in the adult population, research suggests that children and adolescents are more vulnerable to disturbances in the bacterial flora in the body, making triclosan potentially dangerous for this group. Another bactericide widely used in cleaning products is triclocarban, which also imposes similar concerns among international health agencies on their widespread and abusive use within the population.
Whether you have significant risks or not, there is no doubt that triclosan or triclocarban should be left out of your grocery shopping list. If there are no visible and practical benefits from using both, it makes no sense to risk your health for nothing. Always check the packaging of soap, or any other cleaning product, if these substances exist as active ingredients and try to avoid purchasing them. Traditional soap and water already solves the problem, and if you want more hygienic effectiveness, bet on alcohol (ethanol) cleaning solutions.
(1) Triclosan acts by inhibiting a final step in the synthesis if a fatty acid in the bacteria, impairing the normal functioning of these prokaryotes. In small concentrations it slows bacterial growth. At high concentrations it is bactericidal. Even with these effects, a typical handwash that does not last more than 20 seconds does not find real additional benefits with the soaps containing that substance. Everything that has been said here can also be applied, in part, to the triclocarban.
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