Antibacterial soap no better than plain soap

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it's reviewing the safety of triclosan, an antibacterial commonly used in hygiene and cosmetic products like antibacterial soap, hand sanitizers, hand lotion, mouthwash, shampoo and body wash among other things due to the concern about its safety.

The move was probably triggered by some studies that suggest that long term or chronic exposure to triclosan may potentially pose some health hazards including antimicrobial resistance although the FDA maintains that there is no evidence that triclosan is unsafe to use in hygiene products like antibacterial soap.

The studies leading to the negative publicity have caught some attention from some lawmakers. In response, Congressman Edward Markey wanted the FDA and the Environmental Protection Agency to look into the issue and when necessary ban or restrict use of triclosan.

Tan L and colleagues from the American Medical Association commented in the August 2002 issue of Archives of Dermatology that although no data support the efficacy or necessity of antimicrobial agents in consumer products, a growing body of evidence suggests use of triclosan and other antibacterials may increase drug or multidrug resistance.

Tan and colleagues reviewed studies before 2001 and concluded that use of common antibacterial products should be discontinued in consumer products unless antibacterial-laced hygiene and cosmetics products are are proved to be effective in preventing infections and pose no risk on bacterial drug resistance.

Aiello A.E. and colleagues from the University of Michigan later in 2007 published a review of 27 studies conducted before 2006 to assess the potential hazards and benefits of antibacterial or biocide-containing soaps and confirmed that antibacterial is not effective in preventing infections and may increase risk of drug resistance.

Aiello et al. found soaps containing triclosan within the range of concentrations commonly used in the community setting of 0.1 % to 0.45% were no effective than plain soap at preventing infectious diseases and reducing bacterial levels on the hands.

On the other hand, the authors found "several laboratory studies demonstrated evidence of triclosan-adapted cross-resistance to antibiotics among different species of bacteria."

Antibacterial triclosan may pose other risks.

One study led by Peter Vikesland and colleagues at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and published in the Environmental Science and Technology found pure triclosan can react with free chlorine in tap water generating cancer-causing agent chloroform.

Triclosan was also found to have estrogenic and androgenic activity.

Researchers from the University of Reading in Reading UK reported a study in the Journal of Applied Toxicology saying that triclosan causes endocrine disruption of aquatic wildlife and the chemical has become distributed ubiquitously across the ecosystem.

By David Liu