Beware of long term anti-bacterial chemicals consumption! They can cause cancer
Most people think of anti-bacterial chemicals as their protector from dangerous pathogens, but in reality the chemicals can bring some side effects. A study conducted in South Korea stated that triclosan, a chemical anti-bacterial agent, can disrupt the hormonal system. Triclosan is able to mimic estrogen hormone (feminization hormone) thus will alter the normal production of other hormones, such as testosterone. Changes in the level of production will cause an imbalance in the endocrine system and the imbalance will support the growth of abnormal cells. In women, abnormal cell growth is strongly associated with breast cancer cells. This conclusion has been demonstrated in a series of experiments on two groups of laboratory mice.
The study was conducted by comparing the frequency patterns and the development of breast cancer cells in both groups of mice, the first group was given triclosan and the second
…show more content…
Although not well known, oktilfenol can be dangerous if used with triclosan. Both of these chemicals can work together to accelerate the spread of cancer cells.
Unfortunately, various studies have found that both chemicals are contained in most household products, such as cosmetics, soaps, paints, cutting boards, plastic, and pesticides. According to ScienceDaily.com, triclosan is contained in the urine of 75% of United States citizens.
Awareness
Various anti-pesticide groups such as the Environmental Working Group (EWG) have been campaigning to warn people about the dangers of triclosan consumption in the long term. They encourage the elimination of antibacterial chemicals, mainly triclosan and oktilfenol, from a variety of household products. These groups are supported by several studies that proved the adverse effects of triclosan on skin disorders, endocrine disorders, and water
Also depicted in this paper is the type of cancers caused by each chemical and other related health problems associated with each chemical. Finally, the role of government agencies such as FDA, EPA and OSHA in preventing excessive amount or zero amounts of toxic chemicals from entering the environment will be discussed. The last paragraphs will enumerate the inferred conclusion from my research on Agent Orange, DDT and Benzene.
What has been brought to light in recent years is the effects of these chemicals on the body’s immune response. By introducing these toxic chemicals into the body, the potency of the immune system is compromised. More commonly than not, the body’s magnificent defense system will kick in and destroy foreign invaders but all it can take is an overwhelming amount of chemicals to slow or even shut down the body’s response systems. A large amount of these types of chemicals introduced into the body at one time would be considered acute toxicity and could even cause death. Additionally, a small amount of these poisonous substances brought into the body over a long period would be considered chronic toxicity and can have detrimental effects on the body’s natural response (Hoernschemeyer 55-57). This information is startling enough to want to make a change from conventionally grown food to pesticide-free organic
Chemicals are also suspected to cause breast cancer. Xenoestrogens are chemicals with estrogen-like effects, they are found in pesticides and other common industrial products. Other estrogen-like chemicals that have a stronger association with breast cancer include dieldrin and beta-hexachloraocyclohexane. Although these chemicals are very weak estrogens, one study showed that exposure to single weak-estrogen compounds isn’t a big risk but a combination of two or more chemicals result in extremely high estrogenic
Karr and Council of Environmental Health. “Pesticide Exposure in Children.” Pediatrics 130.6 (2006): e1765-e1788. Web. 9 Oct 2015. . This article introduces types of pesticides that are exposed and harmful to children. Different examples of pesticides are classified and explained for its common use. Children are exposed to pesticides through ingestion, inhalation, and dermal contact. However, the most common and unintentional way to be exposed to pesticides is through ingestion in the food we eat. The article shows statistical values on the level of pesticides in fruits, vegetables, and grain products. The authors also point out that water can be contaminated with pesticides which is harmful for children. Clinical signs and symptoms of toxicity to pesticides is also addressed in the article. I will use this article to argue that levels of pesticides in non organic food is threatening to
The organochlorine pesticide DDT (dichlorodiphenyl-trichloroethane) was heavily used in the U.S. since its inception in the 1940’s. It was a favored insecticide by many, especially when it was once accredited by eradicating mosquitoes that carried malaria in some parts of the world. Due to the possible health effects and growing concern of the human and wildlife population, the use of DDT was banned from the U.S. in 1972. However, DDT, like many organochlorines, it is highly persistent in the environment through bioaccumulation. The chemical concentration of DDT increases as it moves through the upper levels of the food chain, more specifically because it deposits itself in adipose tissue cells. The half-life of DDT inside the body is 10
Average American families spend $1,300 a year combined on cleaning and personal hygiene products (Cetawayo). This provides a measurable magnitude of the amount used throughout the world. Products such as soaps, liquid detergents, lotions, deodorants, toothpaste and others contain a harmful chemical know as Triclosan. This is an ingredient that reduces or claims to prevent bacterial contamination and is found in most leading antibacterial consumer goods. The general public has fallen victim to believing that this chemical is safe to use in normal everyday application, however, research is starting to prove otherwise. Environmental impacts on land and waterways could also prove to affect the toxicity levels in animals, plants and even the youth of the nation. While Triclosan has been utilized for many years, researchers are finally undergoing studies showing that these products are not safe to use. Caution should be exercised when making choices on what to use to effectively clean hands, brush teeth, clean windows, and wash hair.
Trichloroethene has been associated with hepatotoxicity. Exposure also produces decreased appetite, gastrointestinal irritation, headaches, skin irritation. Chronic exposure produces ataxia (loss of full control of bodily movements.), decreased appetite, headache, short-term memory loss, sleep disturbances, and vertigo.
Triclosan – this preservative and antibacterial agent creates chloroform gas together with water. The gas can cause cancer and affect the function of the endocrine system negatively.
Some breast cancer cells require estrogen to grow, and the binding of estrogen will activate the estrogen receptors in these cells. 4-hydroxy tamoxifen induces a conformational change in estrogen receptors, preventing the binding of estrogen, and subsequently the expression of estrogen dependent genes. In this case, it acts as a competitive antagonist, competing with estrogen for the binding site on the receptor. Prolonged binding of 4-hydroxy tamoxifen results in reduced DNA polymerase activity, blockade of estradiol uptake, and decreased estrogen response. 4-hydroxy tamoxifen also binds with different estrogen receptors, ER-alpha or ER-beta, and interacts with coactivators or corepressors to produce both estrogenic and antiestrogenic
In breast cancer, the estrogen-estrogen receptor complex cause cell proliferation (Frank, 2013). Hormone therapies can target the effects of hormones in two ways: 1) by stopping the production of estrogen and testosterone, reducing their levels, and 2) by binding to the hormone receptor and blocking the hormone from binding (Frank, 2013). In breast cancer, drugs such as Lupron “prevent the ovaries from making estrogen by blocking cues from the brain that regulate the ovaries” (Frank, 2013). In prostate cancer, Lupron works the same way to prevent the testes from producing testosterone (Frank, 2013). Drugs such as tamoxifen (breast cancer) and flutamide (prostate cancer) bind to their respective hormone receptors and bloc the hormone from
Many breast cancers are sensitive to the hormone estrogen. Thus estrogen leads to development of breast cancer tumor
The impact of certain estrogenic xenobiotics on the reproductive system development and health of animals has been clearly documented. Findings, such as ours demonstrate thathumans are also exposed at risk. As data accumulate regarding to infertility, genital tract malformations and increasing cancer rates in estrogen target tissues (especially the breast),
There are two that involve the estrogen hormone. One type is estrogen and progesterone sensitive and has been coined as estrogen- and progesterone-positive cancer. The other is estrogen- and progesterone-negative cancer. The women that consumed more soy, around a half to one serving per week, were 21% less likely to die over the study’s nine year follow up when compared to the women who ate less soy. “We should not recommend that women with breast cancer avoid soy. Because we found no evidence to support that it’s harmful.” But Dr. Zhang isn’t completely ready to recommend that all women who are diagnosed with breast cancer to start eating soy to starve off death. Her study is finished, but more research and more information is needed to better understand the relationship between soy and breast cancer. “It’s encouraging that despite the overall low consumption [of soy], women living in North America still benefit from increasing
Dr Bosland presented his hypothesis saying only hormones could not be solely responsible for the cause of carcinogenesis but that other factors or rather a combination of several factors induce prostate carcinogenesis. After performing several studies on rats, his team and he stated a hypothesis that testosterone in the presence of DHT (5 alpha reductase) acted on the Androgen receptor and even CYP19 (aromatase) acted on testosterone and became the estrogen receptor. They also observed that the estrogen receptor lead to a series of apurinic changes that lead to mutations in the DNA and thus chemical carcinogenesis as a result of DNA damage. The team further on combined the two hypothesis and came to the conclusion that a mechanism of estradiol genotoxicity might even be involved in establishing the cancer as a redox cycling of enzymatic reactions were observed which lead to the production of superoxide oxygen and Quinone-these acted as DNA adducts and are responsible for oxidative DNA damage. They are still working on their
Even though theamount of Triclosan used in a product is less than 0.5%, we use over 10 products on our skinthat contain this chemical and all this adds up at the end of the day. Triclosan is then absorbedinto our body and it is assumed to affect the hormonal functions. ("Triclosan", 2014) It can alsolead to many types of cancers and cause other skin related issues. In addition, the environmenthas been effected by Triclosan in many negative ways as well. Such as, affecting many aquaticorganisms and changing the aquatic ecosystems. These are still the basic consequences of thissubstance and not much is known about it, but if there is an increase in use of Triclosan it maylead to abnormal babies, and destroy some of our aquatic ecosystems. (“Triclosan: HealthEffects”, 2014)There are several chemicals today that can be used as antibacterial instead of Triclosan.With that there are also other natural alternatives for Triclosan, such as essential oils. Essentialoils are essence from plants that are purified into their purest