Triclosan is an antimicrobial agent used in many household antibacterial products. A controversy presides over the use of this agent, however.
First, I would like to address the issues associated with Triclosan, and its function in our bodies. Triclosan blocks the active site of the enoyl-acyl carrier protein reductase enzyme. This enzyme is an essential enzyme required for the fatty acid synthesis in bacteria, and when Triclosan is present, it acts as a competitive inhibitor for the active site. As a result, the bacteria is prevented from producing the fatty acids needed for growth and reproduction, which in turn kills the bacteria. To many, this would make Triclosan a reasonable antimicrobial agent. However, some studies show that when exposed to water and UV rays, they are transformed into a potential carcinogen, Dioxin. I will need to conduct more research on this in order to understand how this occurs.
Also, this is a mental note to remember to look up the chemical structure of Triclosan and Dioxin and compare them...
Dioxin huh? Seems crazy to me that this chemical would be included if it has the potential to become dioxin - I guess though it wouldn't surprise me either. I would say it would be very likely that these chemicals could be exposed to UV rays as well as water. Can't wait to hear more about this!
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