Fate and Effects of Triclosan

Fate and Effects of Triclosan

1 Introduction

Triclosan (TCS; 2,4,4’-trichloro-2’hydroxydiphenylether) is an antimicrobial agent, which is widely used in personal care products such as shampoos, soaps, cosmetics, lotions and toothpaste.

The aims of the project are to evaluate the environmental properties of Triclosan and assess the risks of effects in aquatic and terrestrial environments.

The project was limited to a review of the literature, which was made available by the Danish EPA and did not leave resources for inclusion of supplementary literature.

At present, almost no information is available regarding the occurrence of Triclosan in sewage, effluents or sewage sludge in Denmark. Therefore, the assessments were mainly based on data from other countries as available, i.e. the U.S.A., Sweden and Switzerland.

The present report reviews several studies describing the fate of Triclosan in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) as well as fate and effects of the substance in surface water and soil. Laboratory and field data are integrated for preliminary aquatic and terrestrial risk assessments for Triclosan.