Antimicrobial Triclosan Changes Microbiota, Linked with Colitis and Colon Cancer

The chemical triclosan (TCS) is used as an antimicrobial agent in more than 2,000 consumer products, from toothpaste and cosmetics, to kitchenware and toys. Studies in mice by a team of scientists in the U.S. and China have now linked short-term dietary exposure to triclosan with altered gut microbiota, colonic inflammation, worsening colitis, and colitis-associated colon cancer.  The studies, reported in Science Translational Medicine , showed that dietary triclosan reduced the diversity a