[Pharmwaste] Groups Tell EPA to Stop Widespread Uses of Anti-Bacterial (triclosan) Consumer Products

[DeBiasi,Deborah]

http://www.beyondpesticides.org/antibacterial/policy/Triclosan.Release.0
7.07.08.pdf


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Jay Feldman

July 7, 2008 Nichelle Harriott, 202-543-5450

Groups Tell EPA to Stop Widespread Uses of Anti-Bacterial Consumer
Products

In comments to EPA on its new risk assessment and evaluation of the
widely used anti-bacterial chemical triclosan, found in a wide range of
products including soaps, toothpastes and personal care products,
plastics, paints and clothing, public interest health and environmental
groups point to health effects, environmental contamination and wildlife
impacts and call for consumer uses to be halted.

Washington, DC, July 7, 2008 - In comments to be filed today with the
Environmental Protection Agency, Beyond Pesticides, Food and Water
Watch, Greenpeace US, Natural Resources Defense Council, Sierra Club and
dozens of public health and environmental groups from the U.S. and
Canada urge the agency to use its authority to cancel the non-medical
uses of the antibacterial chemical triclosan, widely found in consumer
products and shown to threaten health and the environment. The pesticide
is found in a range of products from soaps, to toothpastes and personal
care products, plastics, paints and clothing. Triclosan and its
degradation products bioaccumulate in humans, is widely found in the
nation's waterways, fish and aquatic organisms, and because of its
proliferating uses, are linked to bacterial resistance, rendering
triclosan and antibiotics ineffective for critical medical uses. The
chemical and its degradates are also linked to endocrine disruption,
cancer and dermal sensitization.

"The nonmedical uses of triclosan are frivolous and dangerous, creating
serious direct health and environmental hazards and long-term health
problems associated with the creation of resistant strains of bacteria,"
said Jay Feldman, executive director of Beyond Pesticides. The American
Medical Association (AMA) is on record questioning the efficacy of
triclosan in consumer products, raising the question of whether the
consumer uses are necessary and are doing more harm than good. The
coalition of groups commenting today, in addition to the hazards cited,
criticizes EPA for not completing an analysis of the impact of triclosan
on endangered species and other deficiencies in its review.

The EPA's public comment period for the reevaluation of triclosan, known
as the reregistration eligibility decision (RED), closes today. The
document releases EPA's risk assessment and its decision to allow
triclosan's uses to continue and expand. EPA shares responsibility for
regulating triclosan with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). EPA
has jurisdiction over treated textiles, paints and plastics and FDA is
responsible for soaps, toothpaste, deordorants and antiseptics. The RED,
however, is intended to assess the potential adverse effects across all
uses.

In separate comments today, water utilities commented that triclosan and
its degradation products are not cleaned out of the water treatment
process and end up in sewage sludge, often referred to as biosolids.
Research shows that earthworms take in triclosan residues, as do fish
and aquatic organisms. Concerns have also been raised about residues in
drinking water.
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Deborah L. DeBiasi
Email:   dldebiasi at deq.virginia.gov
WEB site address:  www.deq.virginia.gov
Virginia Department of Environmental Quality
Office of Water Permit Programs
Industrial Pretreatment/Toxics Management Program
PPCPs, EDCs, and Microconstituents
Mail:          P.O. Box 1105, Richmond, VA  23218 (NEW!)
Location:  629 E. Main Street, Richmond, VA  23219
PH:         804-698-4028
FAX:      804-698-4032