Sludge Watch ==> AMA and USFDA and Mother Earth Agree ... Don't use antimicrobial soaps!

[Maureen Reilly]

Sludgewatch Admin:

WERF, WEF, and EPA should hire Rolf Halden to examine these antimicrobial 
compounds in sludges.
So far...they have shown zero interest....part of their 'see no sludge evil, 
study no sludge evil, stay stupid about sludge' policy I guess.
.................................................................


Issue #218 October/November 2006
GREEN GAZETTE
Why You Don’t Need Antibacterial Soap

Mother Earth News

By Tabitha Alterman

If you choose “antibacterial” products because you trust them to kill germs, 
think again. According to recent studies, antiseptic ingredients added to 
numerous products are not effective and may actually be harmful.

In 2005, a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) panel concluded that 
there is “no added benefit” from using antimicrobial products over plain 
soap and water. There’s also toxicity to consider. Researchers at Johns 
Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health discovered that one of the most 
popular antimicrobials, the pesticide triclocarban (TCC), defies water 
treatment methods after we wash our hands of it. Once it’s flushed down 
drains, about 75 percent of TCC makes it through treatments meant to break 
it down, and it ends up in our surface water and in municipal sludge. This 
sludge is regularly applied to U.S. crop fields as a fertilizer, meaning the 
chemical could potentially accumulate in our food, too.

According to Rolf Halden, assistant professor in the Department of 
Environmental Health Sciences at Johns Hopkins and lead author of the most 
recent study, TCC contaminates 60 percent of U.S. streams. In addition, he 
says it is known to cause cancer and reproductive problems in mammals, and 
blue-baby syndrome in human infants.

Introducing an antimicrobial into the environment in this way also has the 
unwanted effect of increasing pathogens’ resistance to clinically important 
antibiotics. The antiseptic triclosan — another popular antimicrobial added 
to numerous products — is known to promote the growth of resistant bacteria, 
including E. coli. In fact, the American Medical Association (AMA) took an 
official stance in 2000 against adding antimicrobials to consumer products. 
The AMA has repeatedly urged the FDA to better regulate these chemicals, 
advising that they should be avoided “until the data emerge to show 
antimicrobials in consumer products are effective at preventing infection.”

Currently, there is no mandatory monitoring of TCC, but approximately 1 
million pounds of it are released annually in the United States. Since 2000, 
about 1,500 new antibacterial products have hit store shelves.

Halden says the irony of his research is two-fold: “First, to protect our 
health, we mass-produce and use a toxic chemical which the FDA has 
determined has no scientifically proven benefit. Second, when we try to do 
the right thing by recycling biosolids, we end up spreading a known 
reproductive toxicant on the soil where we grow our food.” He emphasizes the 
importance of considering the full life cycle of the chemicals we 
manufacture.


http://www.motherearthnews.com/Natural_Health/2006-10-01/Green_Gazette_Why_You_Dont_Need_Antibacterial_Soap