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Tell the FDA to Ban Triclosan and Stop Development of Super Germs
  1. Signatures
    226 out of 500
    Petitioning
    1. FDA Commissioner (Margaret Hamburg)
  2. Created By
    Molly Mann
    Bayville, NY
About this Petition Petition Letter Petition Updates

In recent years, the drive to sterilize just about every aspect of our lives has become a near obsession. We wash ourselves with antibacterial soap, we coat our kitchenware in antimicrobial agents, and we even buy antibacterial socks. But new research suggests that, outside of a hospital, such sterility is not actually desirable.

The most commonly used antibacterial agent in consumer products is called triclosan. Despite the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)'s fact sheet saying that triclosan "is not known to be hazardous to humans," independent researchers, like those in the Environmental Working Group, link triclosan to endocrine abnormalities and to the rise in a new "super resistant" strain of bacteria that triclosan can't kill.

It's likely that our frequent use of antibacterial products -- most commonly triclosan -- is playing a role in the development of these super germs and paradoxically endangering public health. Let's ask the FDA to ban triclosan in all consumer products and take this necessary step to prevent resistant strains of bacteria.

Recent Signatures

Call to Ban Triclosan from Consumer Products

Greetings,

Triclosan, an anti-bacterial agent found in a great many consumer products, has been linked to the rise of a new super resistant strain of bacteria that triclosan can't kill. The FDA itself has said that it "does not have evidence that triclosan, added to antibacterial soaps and body washed, provides extra health benefits over soap and water," so why should we put the public at risk for antibacterial resistance?

The hazards of triclosan are severe and the benefits uncertain, so let's take this product off the market in the interests of public health. We ask that your agency ban triclosan from all consumer products. It may have its place in hospitals, which require a higher level of sterility than most private homes, but to use this product as widely as we do now is comprising our immune systems and leaving us vulnerable to "super bugs."

[Your name]

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