IS THYROID-DISRUPTING TRICLOSAN FUELING THE OBESITY EPIDEMIC?

[Guest guest]

IS THYROID-DISRUPTING TRICLOSAN FUELING THE OBESITY EPIDEMIC?

_http://www.newswithviews.com/Richards/byron191.htm_

(http://www.newswithviews.com/Richards/byron191.htm)

 

By Byron J. Richards, CCN

April 11, 2010

NewsWithViews.com

 

The _FDA_ (http://www.fda.gov/ForConsumers/ConsumerUpdates/ucm205999.htm)

is sounding alarm bells and the _national media_

(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/07/AR2010040704621\

..html) has jumped

on the bandwagon. Triclosan is no longer flying under the radar like

hundreds of others of its toxic chemical friends. Like bisphenol A, triclosan

has

a bull’s-eye on its forehead. This is not only a health story; it is a

story of political intrigue. It pits the obesity epidemic against an industry

that is helping to cause it. Is Michelle Obama paying attention?

 

 

Triclosan is a germ-killing chemical, so it is not surprising that

anything toxic enough to kill germs may have some adverse effects to human

health

if exposure levels rise high enough. In the past decade triclosan has been

added to zillions of consumer products, including the clothes you wear and

the cutting boards you use to prepare food. It is commonly in liquid hand

soap/body washes, deodorant, facial cleansers, acne treatments, facial

moisturizers, toothpaste, shaving cream, and some bar soaps. Such products

often

noticeably promote “Antibacterial Properties†in bold print on their

packaging, and triclosan is typically listed in the small ingredient print when

required by law. A comprehensive review of the places you may encounter

triclosan has been published on the _Environmental Working Group’s_

(http://www.ewg.org/triclosanguide) website.

 

 

Animal studies are showing that it is an endocrine-disrupting chemical

with a penchant for disrupting thyroid hormone at the level of gene

expression. It is worth understanding this issue in a bit more depth.

 

 

Mapping the human genome has certainly raised more questions than it has

answered. Scientists were hoping to find specific genes causing disease, a

simple case of cause and effect Western-medicine thinking. Instead, they

have found a massively complex situation wherein genes are incredibly flexible

and pliable and prone to being placed at various settings just like you

set the thermostat in your house. Once set up in a pattern they often stay

that way, for better or for worse.

 

 

Almost all man-made chemicals have gotten onto the market through

rubber-stamping EPA approval. Similar to the FDA, the EPA’s “advisory

boards†are

made of industry representatives whose vested interest is having chemicals

on the market. Chemicals generally pass a flimsy test of not being too

cancer causing. The cumulative burden of all approved chemicals on health and

the effects of these chemicals on basic human metabolism have not been

benchmarks for approval.

 

 

Many chemicals interfere with metabolism at levels far lower than a

cancer-causing level of exposure. We know from fat tissue samples taken that

exposure to everyone is significant as white adipose tissue typically has at

least 100 of these toxic chemicals stored within fat – which obviously

disturbs the health of the white adipose tissue that is now recognized as a key

endocrine organ.

 

 

The weak link in your endocrine system, as far as chemical exposure is

concerned, is your thyroid. This likely explains why rates of thyroid cancer

in America are steadily rising while most other cancer rates are not. Many

chemicals like triclosan have chlorinated structures that easily bind to the

thyroid gland, displace iodine, or generally cause free radical distress

to thyroid gland function that produces thyroiditis. A chronically inflamed

gland that has its antioxidant system depleted from chemical exposure is

what sets the stage for cancer.

 

 

Your liver is the main organ that clears chemicals. It is also the main

organ that activates thyroid hormone, turning the T4 produced by your thyroid

into active T3, which then goes on to regulate gene function within every

cell of your body. Within your liver the conversion of T4 to T3 takes place

on the surface of cell membranes, not deep within a cell. This is very

important because society’s pollution overload has your liver working

overtime.

If your liver struggles to keep up then cell membranes in your liver are

inflamed and their healthy function is disrupted – meaning the conversion of

T4 to T3 does not take place at an optimal pace. This is one way your

metabolism slows down

 

 

Our new era of gene-related science tells us that optimally functioning

thyroid hormone, especially during early development but also as adults, is

the key hormone for setting metabolic gene switches in healthy patterns.

Once a baby is born metabolism must change dramatically from the constant

influx of nutrition via the umbilical cord to regular patterns of eating. In

many ways, a newborn baby is like a blank chalkboard in terms of numerous

gene settings relating to metabolism. Setting these gene switches properly

influences health for a lifetime.

 

 

The gene patterns that are trained early in life and throughout childhood

are more like computer hardware than computer software, meaning that once

they are established and grooved in they tend to stay that way. On the other

hand, human genes have more flexibility and plasticity than computer

hardware, so there is potential to change settings at any age but it is not a

quick-fix activity. Gene switches that are influenced to be set improperly,

as happens under the influence of exposure to endocrine-disrupting

chemicals, carry a high risk for future obesity and disease.

 

 

In animals studies triclosan _lowers thyroid hormone_

(http://www.wellnessresources.com/studies/entry/triclosan_lowers_thyroxin_levels\

_alters_liver_meta

bolism) levels, alters liver function, and interferes with _thyroid gene

settings_

(http://www.wellnessresources.com/studies/entry/triclosan_alters_thyroid_gene_ex\

pression_during_development) during development. Part of its

mode of action appears to be stimulating the liver to inappropriately

_clear thyroid hormone_

(http://www.wellnessresources.com/studies/entry/triclosan_accelerates_liver_clea\

rance_of_thyroid_hormone) out of the body. Even

though these are animal studies the gene signaling triclosan interferes with

is present in humans. It is one of a generally expanding list of common

pollutants that are _disturbing thyroid function_

(http://www.wellnessresources.com/studies/entry/thyroid_disruption_by_pollution)

and contributing to

metabolic disease.

 

 

The “scientists for hire†that represent industry argue that triclosan

has been around a long time and has been proven safe. Yes, maybe it doesn’t

cause cancer or maybe it contributes to thyroid cancer – an issue that would

be hard to prove. But it hasn’t been proven safe in the context of gene

function, tools we now have to help define a new benchmark of safety for

human health, especially in the context of the obesity epidemic.

 

 

The politics and money involved with this issue is significant – and human

health for generations to come hangs in the balance. The chemical industry

is sitting on the hot seat because their position, in light of emerging

science, is not defensible. They are hoping for delays so as to limit legal

liability.

 

 

The Obama administration is seemingly doing something in the right

direction on this topic, though the FDA warning is almost apologetic and more

intended to calm public concern than to reflect the gravity of the situation.

In comparison, Republican administrations have typically looked the other

way, especially the most recent Bush administration which completely

whitewashed the controversy of thyroid-disrupting perchlorate. They actually

forced

out the EPA scientists who worked on the issue for years and replaced them

with administration yes-men. This was done so that our military wouldn’t

have to spend 50 billion or more cleaning up the problem – a problem which

persists to this day. The perchlorate issue is highly problematic to infants,

the time at which thyroid hormone is supposed to be setting gene switches

for a lifetime. Infants are oftentimes consuming far more perchlorate per

pound of body weight than adults because a majority of women in America have

perchlorate in their breast milk (triclosan is also commonly in breast

milk).

 

 

At this point it is too early to tell if Obama’s regulatory agencies, the

FDA and EPA, will actually do anything effective about the issues of

triclosan, bisphenol A or endocrine-disrupting pollution in general. If they do

then my hat is off to them. However, the FDA is already dragging its feet,

saying they will keep studying the problem for another year before making

another proclamation in the spring of 2011. This is oftentimes the cover the

FDA uses to help industry reduce legal liability. It also gives time for

powerful lobbies to wield undue influence. This issue is worth watching

closely because triclosan and bisphenol A represent the tip of an iceberg.

 

 

Now that America has a serious obesity epidemic starting it in the face it

is high time for the government to do far more than tell people to eat

less and exercise more. The government needs to do things that only the

government can do. It can begin by getting the most endocrine-disrupting

chemicals out of our everyday lives, especially those we come into close

physical

contact with or ingest.

 

© 2010 Wellness Resources, Inc. -

 

 

Related Articles:

 

_Supermarket News Forecasts Non-GMO Uprising_

(http://www.newswithviews.com/Smith/jeffrey129.htm)

 

 

 

Byron J. Richards, Board-Certified Clinical Nutritionist,

nationally-renowned _nutrition expert_

(http://www.wellnessresources.com/newsroom/index.php/tips/articles/get_health_ti\

ps_from_the_expert/) , and founder of _Wellness

Resources_ (http://www.wellnessresources.com/index.php) is a leader in

advocating the value of _dietary supplements_

(http://www.wellnessresources.com/health_topics/daily_program.php) as a vital

tool to maintain health. He

is an outspoken critic of government and Big Pharma efforts to deny access

to natural health products and has written extensively on the

life-shortening and health-damaging failures of the _sickness industry_

(http://www.wellnessresources.com/newsroom/index.php/freedom/) .

 

 

His 25 years of clinical experience from the front lines of nutrition have

made him a popular radio guest who callers find impossible to stump. He

has personally developed 75 unique nutraceutical-grade _nutritional

supplement formulas_ (http://www.wellnessresources.com/supplements.php) with a

focus

on _thyroid nutrition_

(http://www.wellnessresources.com/health_topics/thyroid_metabolism.php) ,

healthy _weight loss supplements_

(http://www.wellnessresources.com/products/leptin_control_pack.php) ,

_cardiovascular nutrition_

(http://www.wellnessresources.com/health_topics/cardiovascular_health.php)

, and _stress management_

(http://www.wellnessresources.com/health_topics/stress_energy_mood.php) .

 

 

E-mail: _byron_ (byron)