Antibacterial Compounds in Soap May Impact a Pregnant Mother's Fetus

Common antibacterial compounds may be causing more harm than expected. Scientists have found that pregnant women exposed to antibacterial compounds could be putting their fetuses at risk.

The human body is efficient at flushing out triclosan and triclocarban, which are materials found in antibacterials. Yet it's possible that a person's exposure to them is constant. There's a growing body of evidence that these compounds could potentially lead to developmental and reproductive problems in animals and possibly humans. That's why scientists decided to investigate a bit further.

"We looked at the exposure of pregnant women and their fetuses to triclosan and triclocarban, two of the most commonly used germ-killers in soaps and other everyday products," said Benny Pycke, one of the researchers, in a news release. "We found triclosan in all of the urine samples from the pregnant women that we screened. We also detected it in about half of the umbilical cord blood samples we took, which means it transfers to fetsus. Triclocarban was also in many of the samples."

These compounds are used in more than 2,000 everyday products, including toothpastes, soaps, detergents, carpets, paints, school supplies and even toys. That said, it's a challenge to show exactly what effect these antimicrobials have on people. However, the study did show that there was a link between women with higher levels of another antimicrobial, butyl paraben, and shorter newborn lengths.

The findings reveal the importance of taking these exposures to antimicrobials into account. More specifically, it highlights the fact that further research is needed in order to fully assess the impacts that antimicrobials have when it comes to impacting human development. Already, Minnesota has banned antimicrobial's sue in certain products.

The findings will be presented at the 248^th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS), the world's largest scientific society.