The Florence Statement on Triclosan and Triclocarban

The Florence Statement on Triclosan and Triclocarban documents a consensus of more than 200 scientists and medical professionals on the hazards of and lack of demonstrated benefit from common uses of triclosan and triclocarban. These chemicals may be used in thousands of personal care and consumer products as well as in building materials. Based on extensive peer-reviewed research, this statement concludes that triclosan and triclocarban are environmentally persistent endocrine disruptors that bioaccumulate in and are toxic to aquatic and other organisms. Evidence of other hazards to humans and ecosystems from triclosan and triclocarban is presented along with recommendations intended to prevent future harm from triclosan, triclocarban, and antimicrobial substances with similar properties and effects. Because antimicrobials can have unintended adverse health and environmental impacts, they should only be used when they provide an evidence-based health benefit. Greater transparency is needed in product formulations, and before an antimicrobial is incorporated into a product, the long-term health and ecological impacts should be evaluated. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP1788.

Freely dissolved PBDEs in water and porewater of an urban estuary

Polyethylene passive samplers (PE) were deployed in Narragansett Bay, RI, to examine freely dissolved concentrations of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in surface, bottom, and sediment porewater. PBDE congeners in the water column and porewater were below 3 pg L(-1). In the surface water, only PBDE congeners containing up to 5 bromines were detected, while in the deeper water congeners 153 and 154 (6 bromines) were also detected. Activity ratios of surface-bottom water and porewater-bottom water suggested that lower brominated (di-tetra) congeners reached Narragansett Bay from surface waters and sediments. PBDEs in the surface water probably originated from a combination of air-water exchange, freshwater runoff, rivers, and wastewater treatment plants. It is suggested that deep water was the source of higher brominated PBDEs to the Bay implying that the more hydrophobic PBDEs reached depth on particles and/or that these congeners were degraded in sediments. On-going sources supply PBDEs to Narragansett Bay.

Development and use of polyethylene passive samplers to detect triclosans and alkylphenols in an urban estuary

To be able to use polyethylene passive samplers (PE) in the field, the partitioning constants between PE and water (K(PEw)) of the compounds examined must be known. The K(PEw)s of triclosan (TCS), methyl-triclosan (MTCS), n-nonylphenol (n-NP), nonylphenol-technical mix (NP-tech), n-octylphenol (n-OP), and t-octylphenol (t-OP) were measured as a function of pH, temperature, and salinity, and a salt effect was calculated for TCS, n-OP, and t-OP. Log K(PEw)s used for calculating dissolved concentrations were taken from 20 °C studies taking salt into account: 3.42 (TCS), 4.53 (MTCS), 4.20 (n-NP), 3.69 (n-OP), and 2.87 (t-OP). The K(PEw) of hydroxyl-group containing compounds were strongly affected by pH, whereas MTCS with its methoxy-group was not. Measured K(PEw)s could not be estimated from octanol-water partitioning constants due to the semipolar makeup of the compounds investigated. Instead, a good correlation (K(PEw) = 0.679 × K(hdw) + 1.033, r(2) = 0.984, p = 0.001) was obtained with hexadecane-water partitioning constants (K(hdw)) predicted from COSMOtherm. During deployments in Narragansett Bay (RI) in the fall of 2009, concentrations of MTCS and t-OP in surface and bottom waters ranged from 40-225 pg L(-1) and 3.5-11 ng L(-1), respectively. These concentrations are far below EC(50) values for rainbow trout. Surface/bottom and bottom/porewater activity ratios were calculated. These indicated surface waters as the main source of MTCS, while surface water as well as sediments were sources of t-OP.