A shocking news I just read today shocked me, and I feel the need to share it with my readers.
The chemical triclosan has been linked to cancer-cell growth and disrupted development in animals. Regulators are reviewing whether it’s safe to put in soap, cutting boards and toys. Consumer companies are phasing it out. In Minnesota U.S. they voted in May 2014 to ban it in many products.
More shocking news, Filipino’s favorite toothpaste brand, (based on how some Pinoy use Colgate in reference to toothpaste) Colgate manufactures a Colgate product that has triclosan, Colgate Total they use the antibacterial chemical to head off gum disease.
But Colgate Palmolive Co said that Colgate Total is safe siting the study when they applied for FDA approval.
However Bloomberg News, having scrutinized the FDA application paper found on the papers submitted by Colgate and the claims about triclosan found out that there are studies showing fetal bone malformations in mice and rats. But Colgate said the findings weren’t relevant.
Viewed through the prism of today’s science, such malformations look more like a signal that triclosan is disrupting the endocrine system and throwing off hormonal functioning, according to the three scientists.
Colgate’s application materials also show that the FDA asked questions about the thoroughness of cancer studies, which are partly addressed in recently released documents.
Some questions about triclosan’s potential impact on people are, by nature, unanswerable. Humans are exposed to dozens of chemicals that may interact in the body, making it almost impossible to link one substance to one disease, said Thomas Zoeller, a biology professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, who specializes in how chemicals affect the endocrine system.”
Of the more than 84,000 chemicals sold in the U.S., few are attracting more scrutiny than triclosan. Used for decades in handsoaps, it is now part of almost 200 products including rugs and pet-food dispensers. Companies including Johnson & Johnson and Procter & Gamble Co. have vowed to remove it from their lineups. In May, Avon Products Inc. announced its plans to go triclosan-free.
Those moves are coming in part as consumers, armed with toxicity ranking systems such as the Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep Database, have turned away from chemicals including Bisphenol A and phthalates, even in the absence of firm scientific or regulatory conclusions.
Wariness is mounting as factors from environment to diet are blamed for a global rise in endocrine-related diseases. Breast, ovarian, prostate and testicular cancer rates have increased over the past 40 to 50 years, according to a 2012 report from the World Health Organization and the United Nations Environment Programme. A rise in preterm and low birthweight babies, early breast development in girls and undescended testicles in boys may be linked to endocrine-disrupting chemicals, the report says.
To read the indepth news about triclosan and Colgate Total visit Bloomberg http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-08-11/in-35-pages-buried-at-fda-worries-over-colgate-s-total.html