Chemical in Hand Sanitizers May be Harmful to Your Health

The Food and Drug Administration is evaluating the safety of a chemical found in soaps, hand sanitizers and in a broad range of other common household products including socks, toys, shaving gels and workout clothes.

By Dena Afrasiabi

The Food and Drug Administration is evaluating the safety of a chemical found in soaps, hand sanitizers and in a broad range of other common household products including socks, toys, shaving gels and workout clothes. The chemical is called triclosan and found in the urine of 75% of the U.S. population.

The FDA's concerns about the health hazards of triclosan stem from previous research studies involving animals hat suggested the chemical may have negative effects on the body's endocrine system and can potentially create antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria.

The FDA said consumers shouldn't be overly worried about the health effects of triclosan, but that there's also no proof that antibacterial soaps and hand sanitizers are healthier than soaps and sanitizers without antibacterial properties.

Representative Edward J. Markey, a democrat from Massachussets,is in part responsible for the FDA's reevaluation. He wants federal regulators to ban the chemical from any product that comes from food and from products meant specifically for children.

Triclosan is also regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Consumer Product Safety Commission. All three organizations will work together to evaluate triclosan's safety and determine whether new regulations needed to be created.