Green Daily

The benefit of triclosan is supposedly that it kills germs and keeps you healthier. Except that, as we all know now, washing your hands vigorously with hot water and regular soap -- any kind of soap, even a handful of sand! -- is just as effective. This is because what you really want to do is get the bacteria off your skin, which is accomplished by the rubbing.

Okay, you might say, triclosan isn't the only, or even best way to be clean, but at least it kills germs. No harm in having dead germs, right? Wrong. Triclosan has so many side-effects it's like a science fiction movie! Besides helping create drug-resistent strains of bacteria, it has also been found to cause:

• allerigies in children
• reproductive disruptions
• liver toxity
• thyroid irregularities
• cancer (possibly/probably)
  

It also bonds with other chemicals to form deadly chemical compounds, like dioxin. Want to get really freaked out? It bonds with chlorine, which is in most tap water, to form chloroform. So if it's in your toothpaste, and you use tap water ... yeah, you're putting chloroform in your mouth.

Obviously that's bad enough, but triclosan also washes down the drain and into the environment, where it collects in the bodies of wildlife, like dolphins. Just another reminder that washing stuff down the drain doesn't make it evaporate into a magic ether world, it stays right here!

Since I'm sure you're convinced along with me that this is scary stuff to simply avoid, check out the Environmental Watch Group's Cosmetic Safety Database to find triclosan-free products. And remember to wash your hands!