CBC quotes Gosse in article on triclosan

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation quoted Julie Gosse, an associate professor of biochemistry at the University of Maine, in an article on the antimicrobial agent triclosan. Triclosan was common in household antibacterial soaps and other cleaners by the end of the ’90s, but questions have arisen about its safety, according to CBC. “The companies were not putting it in for nefarious reasons; they were putting it in for health reasons. But there hadn’t been a whole lot of actual toxicology studies done on it,” Gosse said. Major manufacturers have gradually stopped using triclosan, and last week the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced it was finalizing rules requiring companies to prove that triclosan was more effective than ordinary soap, the article states. Gosse researches triclosan and has discovered it can affect human mast cells, an important part of the immune system, as well as mitochondria. “We found that triclosan inhibits mast cell function quite acutely and quite strongly at concentrations that are completely relevant to what people would be exposed to when they’re washing their hands with this stuff or using the toothpaste,” said Gosse. “In real time, with super resolution microscopy, we’ve seen the mitochondria become deformed within a matter of minutes. And these are the energy powerhouses of the cell.”