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Warning about these cosmetics How dangerous can Triclosan be?
More and more experts have warned in recent years of massively increasing antibiotic resistance. An estimated 700,000 people are already dying every year from infections caused by pathogens, which are not counteracted by drugs. British researchers now report that triclosan may also contribute to the development of antibiotic resistance. The substance, which is included among other things in cosmetic products, should among other things be carcinogenic.
Dangerous increase of antibiotic resistance
The increase in antibiotic resistance is posing a growing challenge for healthcare. When such drugs stop working, even small infections can become a major risk. One reason for the increase is the mass use of such drugs. Researchers from the UK now report that triclosan may also contribute to the development of antibiotic resistance. This substance should also promote diseases such as cancer and damage sperm and organs.
Researchers have found that triclosan may contribute to antibiotic resistance. The substance is used among other things for cosmetic products, antibacterial soaps or toothpastes. (Image: Alexander Raths / fotolia.com) Controversial antibacterial additive Triclosan
The widespread use of the controversial antibacterial additive triclosan, for example for the manufacture of cosmetics and disinfectants, could contribute to the development of antibiotic resistance.
Researchers at the University of Birmingham, together with colleagues from the Quadram Institute and the John Innes Center in Norwich, have found an association between insensitivity to antibiotics from the quinolone group and resistance to the commonly used biocide.
The team of scientists published its findings in the journal "Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy".
Biocide in cosmetic products
"The link between quinolone and triclosan resistance is important as triclosan has become ubiquitous in the environment and even in human tissue over the last 20 years," co-author Professor Laura Piddock of the University of Birmingham said in a statement.
In fact, Triclosan is distributed worldwide. The biocide is used in cosmetic products such as antibacterial soaps, toothpastes or detergents.
Professor Tony Maxwell of the John Innes Center said her study helped "to better understand the mechanisms of antimicrobial resistance that are a serious and growing problem in Britain and elsewhere".
Medications with serious side effects
According to Stiftung Warentest, quinolones are currently the fourth most widely prescribed antibiotics. They are used, among other things, for bacterial infections of the abdomen, respiratory and urinary tract.
Due to the serious side effects, however, more and more experts are now warning against the use of these drugs.
For example, one guideline of the World Health Organization (WHO) advises, among other things, that quinolones should no longer be used against gonorrhea.
Various defense mechanisms activated
The British scientists worked in their study with the bacterial species Escherichia coli and Salmonella enterica.
According to the team around Dr. Mark Webber block quinolones a certain enzyme of the bacteria and thus prevent the production of vital proteins - as a result, the pathogen dies.
As the researchers report, the bacterial DNA is packaged differently by these changes and various defense mechanisms are activated. This leads to resistance to triclosan.
In practice, this means that pathogens with modified genetic material could reproduce more intensively if triclosan is present in their environment.
According to the scientists, further investigations are needed.
No benefits from "antibacterial" products
Especially in the last decade, more and more products with the label "antibacterial" or "antimicrobial" were marketed.
"However, there is a lack of evidence for additional benefits of these products over traditional cleaning and personal care products," said a statement from the Quadram Institute.
Some may be harmful to your health. Triclosan has been criticized for years for possible health problems. There are indications that the substance can lead to hormonal disorders and harms the muscles.
In addition, according to experts, the substance may be a cause of breast cancer as well as damage sperm and attack the liver.
Limit the use of triclosan
For example, in some countries, such as the US, the substance is banned in soaps. In Germany, the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) had already demanded in 2006 that antibacterial agents such as triclosan should be reserved for disinfection in hospitals and medical practices.
Health experts from 29 countries have recently published a call in the science journal "Environmental Health Perspectives," in which they also demand that the "problem biocide" Triclosan should only be licensed worldwide in specialty medical applications.
According to experts, the substance degrades very badly in the environment. In addition, in the production of triclosan and also in the degradation in the environment highly toxic, dioxin-like substances.
Ortwin Zais, board member of the Environmental Doctors' Association Germany, who supports the call, said: "Triclosan has been detected in many countries in breast milk and even in umbilical cord blood."
Health experts are calling for "the international community to restrict the production and use of triclosan" to strictly medical applications and to generally question the benefits of disinfectants. "(Ad)