Warning to germ-a-phobes!

Triclosan

In the last couple of decades, triclosan has found its way into soaps, cleaners,toothpastes, and not surprisingly, hand sanitizer, especially non-alcohol-based types.

There are reports that 75% of the US population excretes triclosan in urine because it is so widespread.

The problem with triclosan is that it's antibacterial. On the surface that seems all right, but if you look deeper, it's becoming more associated with bacterialresistance. Thus, we might inadvertently create super-bugs, resistant to antibiotics. Initially, bacteria succumb to triclosan, but there are always a few that are resistant to its effects. Those bacteria are then able to reproduce, despite the triclosan.

It's also associated with being an endocrine-system disruptor. That means human growth and development could be affected by exposure to this particular chemical.

The Verdict

I use hand sanitizers. I am not against them. I am neither a doctor nor a scientist and I haven't personally conducted my own scientific tests to find out everything about these chemicals.

But, I also like to take responsibility for my own health. It's also important to note - again - that other than alcohol and water these chemicals are present in small amounts in hand sanitizers and they are not in every type of sanitizer.

With the prevalence of so many industrial chemicals in water, shampoo, cleaners, and personal hygiene products, I aim to limit my use of hand sanitizers, however. I am not sure how many repeated exposures to these small amounts of chemicals will tip the biological clock to create irregularities in my cellular DNA, but I don't really want to find out.

Alternatives to Hand Sanitizers

• Regular soap and water. Generations of people have used regular soap and water to clean their hands and have done just fine with it.
• Use natural products whenever you can.
• Make your own on-the-go hand sanitizer. Get a little bit of dish soap (preferably fragrance and triclosan-free), add water, shake and you have your cleaner. Bring along some napkins and paper towels and you can clean your hands and other objects like toys, car steering-wheels, and anything else you might need to clean on the go.
• Use a hand-sanitizer with completely readable ingredients. That is, ingredients that you can readily identify without being a chemistry major. You'll be doing yourself a favor and on the Skin Deep Database, use one that ranks as "0" (the lower the better) in terms of health and environmental concerns.

www.mercola.com