Urge the EPA to Ban Poison in Your Soap!

 In an effort to be healthier, you make myriad changes to your diet, routine and lifestyle.  You walk to the corner store instead of driving, reach for water instead of a pill when you have a headache, squeeze in a moment at the gym before work, count calories, tear yourself away from your computer to breathe nearly fresh air, sleep more, and cut down/out your use of spray cans, double espressos and meat,  only to have soap kill you?  Perhaps... if  the

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) doesn't hear your thoughts on allowing companies to continue to put triclosan in household products.  Triclosan is an anti-bacterial chemical that can kill low level bacteria, but while it encourages new, resistant strains to develop.  Considered 'harmless' to humans in small amounts, the chemical is allowed in countless products (like soaps, mouthwashes, toothpastes, deodorants, cleaning supplies, etc.), as if the average consumer of any one of those products will not use any other in the same time period... Until 3PM, Eastern Standard Time, this Friday, April 8, 2011, the EPA is taking comments about the continued use of triclosan in household products.  I join CREDO Action in urging you to ask the EPA to ban triclosan and all other chemicals whose obvious combined usage levels are toxic in humans:

"Triclosan is a germ-killing chemical used in a stunning array of consumer products. I recently discovered it in my own hand soap. It's likely in yours, too — or in your toothpaste, deodorant, dish soap or even tissues.¹ The problem is, triclosan doesn't just kill germs. It's also toxic for people. It disrupts hormones, lowers sperm production and weakens the immune system. And its use is so widespread, it has accumulated in most of our bodies.²  Restrictions on triclosan have been enacted in the EU and Canada. Now the EPA is also considering a ban on the use of this dangerous chemical. 

Despite its substantial health and environmental risks, Triclosan isn't any better at killing germs than regular soap. ³  The danger from Triclosan isn't limited to our homes. It washes down the drain and enters drinking water sources, lakes and rivers where it is converted by sunlight into cancer-causing dioxins.  Still, the powerful chemical industry has successfully promoted widespread use of Triclosan, and so far avoided increased EPA regulation.  That needs to change. The EPA is accepting public comments until this Friday on a petition to ban the use of Triclosan as a germ killing agent. Join dozens of other groups including our friends at Food and Water Watch and the Center for Environmental Health, and tell the EPA you support increased regulation of this dangerous, toxic chemical that is already far too prevalent.  1. Products containing Triclosan," Beyond Pesticides  2. National Report on Human Exposure to Environmental Chemicals," Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, February 28, 2011  3. Triclosan No Better than Plain Soap," Environmental Working Group"

To ask the EPA to ban toxic chemicals like triclosan from our household products, Click Here!

Thank you for reading my blog today.  Please be kind to yourself and to others.  Share your visions of peace and justice with the world.  Strive always to leave each place you visit the better for your having been there! - TCK