Triclosan

Articles touting the dangers of triclosan are easy to locate on the web. What is triclosan? The brief article What are triclocarban and triclosan (ingredients in some antiseptic soaps)? answers the question and makes some important points about triclosan. Triclosan has been known to be an ingredient found in soaps, toothpaste and cosmetics. As the linked article notes it is fat soluble and able to cross cell membranes.

Triclosan's biological impact is measured largely by a capacity to disrupt the function of an enzyme found in bacteria and funguses with the long name enoyl-acyl carrier-protein reductase. Fortunately we are able to refer to it simply as ENR. Disruption is accomplished by interfering with the function of a part of the enzyme known as the active site. The active site is a location where binding occurs. Enzymes can bind substances or other proteins. The result of the interaction between triclosan and ENR prevents the synthesis of fatty acids needed to construct cellular membranes. It is important to bear in mind that because EDR is not a human enzyme the disrupted function is confined to targeted bacteria and funguses.

It is always possible that there are unknown harmful effects to humans that will yet be documented. However one could make that argument for many other substances as well. Before campaigning against a substance on health grounds we should be aware of exactly what it does and with what biomolecules it interacts.