|
Toothpaste cancer scare spotlighted
By Zhao Huanxin (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-04-20 06:20
An international cancer scare over anti-bacterial soap and toothpaste is
being investigated by Chinese authorities.
Research carried out by a professor in the United States found chlorine in
tap water and the bacteria-busting chemical triclosan in some soaps and other
products can react together to create the probable carcinogen chloroform.
Staffs of a
supermarket in Jinan, Shandong Province, start removing Colgate
toothpastes from the shelves due to a cancer scare April 20, 2005.
[newsphoto] | However, author of the study Peter Vikesland of Virginia Tech University,
reportedly said on Monday that a decision by British retailer Marks &
Spencer's to take triclosan-enhanced toothpastes off its shelves was "an
apparent overreaction."
Although no products were withdrawn from sale in Beijing, the findings made
headlines in the Chinese media, raising consumer concern over
triclosan-containing Colgate toothpaste and other products.
The General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine
yesterday said both they and the Standardization Administration of China have
begun looking into case.
"To make an accurate and reasonable judgment, a standard needs to be
developed on the basis of research, experimentation and data. That process will
take some time," the agency said in a statement.
Colgate-Palmolive (Guangzhou) Co, with at least one of its toothpaste
products containing triclosan, said its products have been certified by
competent authorities worldwide, and are safe and effective.
China's national toothpaste standard, GB8372, makes no stipulation on the
amount of the antibacterial compound triclosan allowed in toothpaste, and tests
on the products focus on the presence of microbes and heavy metals, according to
industry sources.
Professor Wu Weikai of the China Centre for Disease Control and Prevention
yesterday said he believed the risk posed by use of the toothpaste is almost
"negligible," as in toothpaste triclosan is only present in very small amounts,
and the chloroform produced when it is mixed with chlorinated water is also
minimal.
A spokesman for the Beijing Consumers' Association yes-terday said it had not
received any complaints about Colgate toothpaste.
"I think people are jumping to conclusions," Vikesland was quoted by the
Roanoke Times as saying on Monday. "There isn't a huge need to worry at the
present."
He said various websites garbled the potential health risks identified in his
findings.
The original research, which appeared in the journal Environmental and
Science Technology earlier this month, warned "the potential exists for
substantial chloroform production to occur via daily household use of
triclosan-containing products," according to the Roanoke Times report.
(China Daily 04/20/2005 page2)
| |
 |
|
|
|
|
Today's
Top News |
|
|
|
Top China
News |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
