Cleaning hands but contaminating the Great Lakes

7/11/14 Clean Production Action Bulletins

A new report from the Canadian Environmental Law Association (CELA) and Clean Production Action (CPA) uses GreenScreen® to evaluate two antibacterial chemicals and concludes that triclosan is a high hazard chemical whose use should be avoided. An alternative antibacterial, triclocarban, is less hazardous overall than triclosan, but is a very high aquatic toxicant. According to the report, most of these chemicals used in soaps and other consumer products end up down the drain and in waterways, including the Great Lakes. Minnesota’s ban on consumer products containing triclosan goes into effect in 2017. Given their aquatic toxicity, CELA and CPA are recommending further bans on both triclosan and triclocarban. Could this dilemma have been averted if GreenScreen had been used before these products went on the market?

Press Release

GreenScreen Assessments of Triclosan and Triclocarban