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Antibacterial Soap Linked to Cancer and Liver Fibrosis
A new study has revealed that washing your hands with antibacterial soap may lead to cancer. Researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine reported potentially serious consequences of long-term exposure to the chemical.
Triclosan, an antimicrobial agent commonly found in soaps, shampoos, toothpastes and many other household items has been linked to cancer.
The research has been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Researchers have found that triclosan leads to liver fibrosis and cancer by experimenting on laboratory mice through molecular mechanisms that are also significant in humans. Mice exposed to triclosan for six months (approximately equivalent to 18 human years) were more disposed to developing chemical-induced liver tumors. These tumors were also larger and more recurrent than in mice not exposed to triclosan.
“Triclosan’s increasing detection in environmental samples and its increasingly broad use in consumer products may overcome its moderate benefit and present a very real risk of liver toxicity for people, as it does in mice, particularly when combined with other compounds with similar action,” said research lead Professor Robert H. Tukey in a press release.
The study suggests triclosan may do its damage by interfering with the constitutive androstane receptor, a protein responsible for detoxifying (clearing away) foreign chemicals in the body. To compensate for this stress, liver cells proliferate and turn fibrotic over time. Repeated triclosan exposure and continued liver fibrosis eventually promote tumor formation.
Triclosan is perhaps the most ubiquitous consumer antibacterial. Studies have found traces in 97 percent of breast milk samples from lactating women and in the urine of nearly 75 percent of people tested.
Professor Bruce D. Hammock of the University of California, said, “We could reduce most human and environmental exposures by eliminating uses of triclosan that are high volume, but of low benefit, such as inclusion in liquid hand soaps.”
Source: healthmeup.com
References:
The Commonly Used Antimicrobial Additive Triclosan Is a Liver Tumor Promoter
Image Credit: tsminteractive.com
