4.7 Article

Household triclosan and triclocarban effects on the infant and maternal microbiome

Journal

EMBO MOLECULAR MEDICINE
Volume 9, Issue 12, Pages 1732-1741

Publisher

WILEY
DOI: 10.15252/emmm.201707882

Keywords

antibiotic; microbiome; resistance; triclosan

Funding

  1. National Institutes of Health, Institute of Environmental Sciences [R21 ES023371]
  2. Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute for Child Health and Human Development [R01 HD063142]
  3. National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship [DGE-114747]
  4. NCI [K08 CA184420]
  5. Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation

Ask authors/readers for more resources

In 2016, the US Food and Drug Administration banned the use of specific microbicides in some household and personal wash products due to concerns that these chemicals might induce antibiotic resistance or disrupt human microbial communities. Triclosan and triclocarban (referred to as TCs) are the most common antimicrobials in household and personal care products, but the extent to which TC exposure perturbs microbial communities in humans, particularly during infant development, was unknown. We conducted a randomized intervention of TC-containing household and personal care products during the first year following birth to characterize whether TC exposure from wash products perturbs microbial communities in mothers and their infants. Longitudinal survey of the gut microbiota using 16S ribosomal RNA amplicon sequencing showed that TC exposure from wash products did not induce global reconstruction or loss of microbial diversity of either infant or maternal gut microbiotas. Broadly antibiotic-resistant species from the phylum Proteobacteria, however, were enriched in stool samples from mothers in TC households after the introduction of triclosan-containing toothpaste. When compared by urinary triclosan level, agnostic to treatment arm, infants with higher triclosan levels also showed an enrichment of Proteobacteria species. Despite the minimal effects of TC exposure from wash products on the gut microbial community of infants and adults, detected taxonomic differences highlight the need for consumer safety testing of antimicrobial self-care products on the human microbiome and on antibiotic resistance.

Authors

I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.

Reviews

Primary Rating

4.7
Not enough ratings

Secondary Ratings

Novelty
-
Significance
-
Scientific rigor
-
Rate this paper

Recommended

No Data Available
No Data Available