[Pharmwaste] Triclosan in plasma and milk - Swedish research

[Tenace, Laurie]

Triclosan in plasma and milk from Swedish nursing mothers
and their exposure via personal care products

In the past few years, the bactericidal compound triclosan has been
the subject of various collaborative studies carried out by research
groups from Stockholm University and the Karolinska Institutet.
Triclosan is commonly used in e.g. plastics, textiles and health care
products such as tooth pastes and deodorants.
The present study describes the findings of the determination of triclosan
in plasma and breast milk of a relatively small (n=36) group of
nursing mothers. The analytical methodology used to accurately quantify
triclosan levels, including an acidic hydrolysis step to release any
triclosan bound in conjugates, had been published earlier (Allmyr et
al., 2006) and was applied while taking quality control parameters such
as method repeatability into account.
It was shown that triclosan and/or its metabolites are omnipresent in
both plasma and breast milk from nursing mothers and that concentrations
in both matrices were clearly and significantly higher in the
exposed group (i.e., the group that uses products containing triclosan)
than in the control group. For both matrices there is a large withingroup
variability. Furthermore, the triclosan concentration in milk was
lower than in plasma on an individual basis, which is influenced by the
presence and behaviour of triclosan conjugates in plasma and milk and
other factors such as protein binding and partitioning to lipids in either
matrix. In any case, the infant is exposed to a considerably smaller dose
of triclosan via the breast milk compared to the dose in the mother.
The authors state that for the exposure of infants, direct contact with
products that contain triclosan may be more important.
The significance of the presence of triclosan in plasma and breast milk
of nursing mothers in terms of health effects is not easily deduced: longterm
effects of chronic exposure to triclosan are not fully understood.
In the paper, several triclosan-enyzme reactions are briefly discussed,
such as the capacity to inhibit the iodothyronine hormone sulfotransferase
activity in rat liver cytosol in vitro (Schuur et al., 1998). Summarizing,
the findings suggest that the possibility cannot be excluded that
triclosan exerts adverse effects on biological systems by interfering
with the biotransformation of other exogenous and endogenous compounds.
It should be taken into account that triclosan levels in plasma and in
breast milk may vary from country to country, possibly influenced by
the advice on the use of products containing disinfectants in relation
to common hygiene measures that have been formulated by national
authorities such as in Sweden and The Netherlands (Health Council of
the Netherlands, 2001). However, the general presence of triclosan in
plasma from individuals who do not use products containing this compound
indicates that there are other significant sources of exposure.
For example, the fact that triclosan has been found in fish bile by
applying Effect Directed Analysis (Houtman et al., 2004) clearly shows
that triclosan has entered our environment in measurable quantities.
REFERENCES
* Allmyr M, McLachlan MS, Sandborgh-Englund G and Adolfsson-Erici M.
Determination of triclosan as its
pentaflurobenzoyl ester in human plasma and milk using electron capture
negative ionization mass
spectrometry. Analytical Chemistry 78 [2006]: 6542-6546.
* Health Council of the Netherlands: Disinfectants in consumer products. The
Hague: Health Council of the
Netherlands, 2001; publication no. 2001/05.
* Houtman CJ, van Oostveen AM, Brouwer A et al. Identification of estrogenic
compounds in fish bile using
bioassay-directed fractionation. Environmental Science&Technology 38 [2004]:
6415-6423.
* Schuur AG, Legger FF, van Meeteren ME et al. In vitro inhibition of thyroid
hormone sulfation by
hydroxylated metabolites of halogenated aromatic hydrocarbons. Chemical
Research in Toxicology 11
[1998]: 1075-1081.
SOURCE:
Allmyr M, Adolfsson-Erici M, McLachlan MS, Sandborgh-Englund G. Triclosan in
plasma and milk from
Swedish nursing mothers and their exposure via personal care products.
Science of the Total Environment
372 [2006]: 87-93.

Laurie J. Tenace
Environmental Specialist
Florida Department of Environmental Protection
2600 Blair Stone Road, MS 4555
Tallahassee, Florida 32399-2400
PH: (850) 245-8759
FAX: (850) 245-8811
Laurie.Tenace at dep.state.fl.us 

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