Toxic Dioxins Generated from Antibacterial Soap Chemical

<"https://www.yourlawyer.com/practice_areas/toxic_substances">Dioxons, very toxic and ubiquitous compounds that are also significant environmental pollutants, appear to be connected to antibacterial soap, said Natural News.

Triclosan, a chemical used as an antibacterial in soaps, hand sanitizers, and other household products, has been associated with serious, long-term effects on human health and the environment. It is believed sunlight transforms triclosan to dioxin.

Natural News points out that the highest levels of dioxins are located in “soils, sediments, and food such as dairy products, meat, fish, and shellfish,” said Natural News. The World Health Organization (WHO) explained that dioxin exposure can lead to reproductive and developmental problems, damage to the immune system, hormone interference, and cancer.

By using antibacterial soaps and products, consumers could be inadvertently flushing dioxins into the water supply, said Natural news.

Natural News pointed out that in two studies conducted in 2003 and 2009, University of Minnesota civil engineering professor William Arnold and his colleague Kristopher McNeill discovered that when triclosan is exposed to sunlight it generates four different dioxin groups. “These four dioxins only come from triclosan. They didn’t exist in Lake Pepin before triclosan was introduced,” said Dr. Arnold said in a statement to the media, quoted Natural News. Triclosan “was first added to commercial liquid hand soap in 1987” and, by 1991, was found in about 80 percent of all commercial liquid hand soaps, said Natural News, citing the research.

A new study, conducted by a team of scientists from the University of Minnesota’s Institute of Technology, Pace Analytical (Minneapolis), the Science Museum of Minnesota, and Virginia Tech, documented how triclosan becomes the dioxins that are building up in the environment, said Natural News. The team concluded that dioxins originating from triclosan comprise a significant increase in the total dioxins blamed for polluting Mississippi River sediments, said Natural News. The research was published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology.

The recent study was led by recent University of Minnesota Ph.D. graduate in chemistry Jeff Buth; the team reviewed dioxin types and sediment samples from Lake Pepin, a section of the Mississippi River about 120 miles downstream from greater Minneapolis-St. Paul, said Natural News.

Although work has been underway for years to minimize dioxin contamination from industrial pollution, the rise in triclosan in antibacterial consumer products has gone unnoticed with dioxin levels from these products having risen an unbelievable 200-300 percent said Natural News. Other dioxin levels have dropped by 73 to 90 percent.

The bulk of the chemical—about 96 percent—is washed down drains, which ends up in water treatment plants, said Natural News. Sadly, triclosan cannot be entirely removed during wastewater treatment processes and, when it enters the environment and is exposed to sunlight, becomes dioxin, noted Natural News. The chemical could also be contributing to the growing and alarming issues surrounding bacterial resistance, wrote Natural News.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not, said Natural News, fully addressed the issues surrounding this dangerous compound.