An ingredient in many anti-bacterial soaps is ending up in fertilizer for food crops. The ingredient is toxic when ingested and scientists are worried it will migrate from the fertilizer into the food we eat. The GLRC’s Lester Graham reports:
Transcript
An ingredient in many anti-bacterial soaps is ending up in fertilizer for
food crops. The ingredient is toxic when ingested and scientists are
worried it will migrate from the fertilizer into the food we eat. The
GLRC’s Lester Graham reports:
The ingredient, triclocarban, is used in anti-bacterial soaps. It’s washed
down the drain and to the local sewer plant. Most of it is removed from
the wastewater before it flows back into rivers and lakes, but as reported
in the journal Environmental Science and Technology, researchers at
Johns Hopkins found triclocarban does not degrade in the wastewater
treatment and ends up concentrated in the sewer sludge. That sludge is
often hauled away and used as fertilizer for crops.
The researchers noted that the Food and Drug Administration has
determined that regular use of anti-bacterial soap is no more beneficial
than regular soap, but we keep using it.
The researchers say they’ll next test to see of triclocarban is migrating
from the fertilizer into the foods we eat and whether it poses a human
health risk.
For the GLRC, this is Lester Graham.