More than 80 activist groups filed a petition with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to ban the antimicrobial/antibacterial pesticide triclosan in products for non-medical use. Triclosan is found in many common products, even some used in the cleaning industry, including hand soaps, laundry detergents and facial tissues. Activists claim that triclosan affects male and female reproductive organs and increases the risk for cancer.

However, the American Cleaning Institute (ACI), formerly the Soap and Drug Administration, is urging the EPA to reject the petition, stating it is "deficient, lacks merit and uniformly fails to provide relevant evidence."

In formal comments to the EPA, ACI noted that triclosan is a germ-killing ingredient in personal care and hand hygiene products, which are regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, not the EPA.

"Triclosan and products containing it are regulated by a number of governmental bodies around the world and have a long track record of human and environmental safety, which is supported by a multitude of scientifically based transparent risk analyses," wrote Richard Sedlak, ACI senior vice president of technical and international affairs.

ACI took exception to activist groups' requests for EPA to ban triclosan, stating that EPA completed a very thorough review of the ingredient in a 2008 regulatory decision that formally re-registered triclosan for its use in EPA-regulated products.




POSTED ON: 6/1/2011