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Present in many beauty and hygiene products, triclosan has been used for almost 50 years as an anti-bacterial. This biocide is suspected of passing into breast milk and causing liver damage in newborn babies.
Once again, triclosan finds itself at the center of a health scandal. Present in many consumer products, especially in cleansing gels for surgeons, it would this time be accused of causing excess fat in the liver of breastfed babies. The results of the study have appeared in the University of California San Diego School of Medicine.
Contaminated breast milk may cause “hepatic steatosis”
To achieve this observation, the American researchers worked with mice whose diet, enriched with Triclosan (0.012% TCS), was continued after the birth of young mice. The latter were fed with contaminated breast milk for 21 days.
The concentration of Triclosan in the milk and serum of the newborns was then measured on the 14th day and the 21st day. TCS concentrations were found to be similar to those reported in milk and human serum. The researchers then took liver cells from one-month-old mice.
Quickly, the suckling pups developed several liver pathologies, including fatty liver disease, characterized by the accumulation of fat in liver cells. This disease was also accompanied by fibrosis, inflammation and oxidative stress in young mice.
For scientists, the results are clear:
“Early exposure to triclosan through breastfeeding may cause lasting harm to liver function.” they reveal in the study.
The analysis also indicated, unsurprisingly, a maximum contamination score (3) in Triclosan-fed mice and 0 in unexposed neonatal mice.
Cancer, allergy and antibiotic resistance
In addition to the liver problems it can trigger, we now know that Triclosan can affect the reproductive system and the functioning of thyroid hormones.
It would also promote the appearance of different types of cancers (breast, colon) and would be suspected of damaging spermatozoa, damaging the muscles, promoting antibiotic resistance and finally, increasing the risk of allergy.
In pregnant women, the molecule would first be found in the blood of the umbilical cord. The mothers would therefore transmit Triclosan to their embryo and then to their infant.
Despite these adverse effects and while it is banned in the United States, Triclosan is still not banned in Europe. It is used in the composition of many cosmetic products (soaps, deodorants, toothpaste, etc.).