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 It may also require taking a closer look at antimicrobial chemicals
like triclosan that are found in indoor dust, said lead study author
Dr. Erica Hartmann, a researcher at Northwestern University in
Evanston, Illinois.
“We need to find responsible ways to use antimicrobials and
antibiotics everywhere - at home, in agriculture, and in medicine -
to truly tackle the problem of antibiotic resistance,” Hartmann, who
worked on the study while a researcher at the University of Oregon,
said by email.
“In some cases, like in household soaps, that may mean not using
them at all,” Hartmann added.
Hartmann and colleagues analyzed dust samples from an indoor
athletic and educational facility and found links between
antimicrobial chemicals and antibiotic-resistance genes in microbes.
For instance, dust samples with higher amounts of triclosan also had
higher levels of a gene that's been implicated in bacterial
resistance to multiple drugs. While they found only very small
amounts of triclosan – less than many household products contain –
the connection suggests a need to investigate how these chemicals in
dust may contribute to antibiotic resistance, the researchers
conclude.
Earlier this month, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration banned
over-the-counter bar soaps and certain other consumer products that
contain triclosan and other antibacterial chemicals. The ban didn’t
cover hand sanitizers or antibacterial products used in hospitals.
The ban also doesn’t apply to lots of other products that contain
these chemicals, including paints, toothpaste, baby toys, bedding,
and kitchen utensils, Hartmann said.
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“Right now, we don’t know how much of the triclosan we see in dust
comes from soap versus other products (building materials, paints,
plastics, etc.),” Hartmann said. “In a lot of cases, the
antimicrobial chemical can just be omitted and the product is still
just as effective.”
The current study doesn’t prove antimicrobials in dust cause
antibiotic resistance, the authors note in the journal Environmental
Science and Technology.
In addition, the study can’t tell how the potential effect of
chemicals in dust would compare to the effect of other causes of
antibiotic resistance, such as unnecessary antibiotic prescriptions
or overuse of these treatments in livestock feed, said Tim Landers,
a researcher at the Ohio State University College of Nursing in
Columbus who wasn’t involved in the study.
Still, the study rightly singles out triclosan as a potential
problem, Landers said by email.
“It is important to note that not all antibacterial agents are
equal,” Landers said. Some, like alcohol-based hand rubs, destroy
bacterial cell walls and we don’t see resistance to these agents.”
“However, there is increasing evidence that triclosan resistance
does emerge and makes the bacteria resistant to antibiotics in other
classes,” Landers added. “Triclosan has been implicated as having
negative impacts on the environment as well.”
SOURCE: Environmental Science and Technology, online September 7,
2016.
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