From Dirty Hands to Dolphin Blood

First introduced into the health care industry as a disinfectant surgical scrub in 1972, triclosan is a common antibacterial chemical agent used in hand soap and dish detergent.

Now, it has been found in the blood of wild Atlantic bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus). This is the first time that triclosan has been discovered in the blood of a marine mammal.

Though public sewage treatment processes scrub out many contaminants, triclosan does persist and gets washed into rivers, harbors, lagoons and coastal waters, harming marine plants and animals.

When introduced into surface water and degraded by sunlight, triclosan can form dioxins, environmental pollutants that are suspected to be cancer-causing to humans. Dioxin pollution has been around since the early Industrial Revolution.

The study analyzed blood plasma collected from wild bottlenose dolphins found in Charleston, South Carolina, and Indian River Lagoon, Florida, and was published in the August-September 2009 issue of the journal Environmental Pollution by researchers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Environment Canada and the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute at Florida Atlantic University.

In 2005, a study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) found that "no evidence suggests that use of antibacterial soap containing 0.2% triclosan provides a benefit over plain soap in reducing bacterial counts."

In fact, the use of triclosan -- found in such wide-ranging products as soap, toothpaste, deodorant, cosmetics, clothes, toys, kitchenware and computer equipment -- can lead to the development of even more powerful bacteria.

"Whole bathrooms and bedrooms can be outfitted with products containing triclosan...including pillows, sheets, towels, and slippers," wrote Stuart B. Levy from Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston, in a paper published in the June 2001 issue of the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases.

"Bacteria are not about to succumb to this deluge, however. Through mutation, some of their progeny emerge with resistance to the antibacterial agent aimed at it, and possibly to other antimicrobial agents as well."