Antibacterial soap is damaging sewage treatment systems

Triclosan is an indiscriminate killer, bacteria will even in places where the microbial communities work hard to keep us healthy, including sewage treatment systems.

The wastewater treatment plants add often anaerobic digesters so you can reduce the amount of garbage that have to deal with. Bacteria that survive in oxygen media degrade organic waste, including sewage, and produce small molecules of ammonia, carbon dioxide and methane â€" which can be used as fuel. Thus, the amount of waste handling is much smaller, the treatment process is more effective.

However, in the presence of antibacterials in wastewater, these anaerobic bacteria cannot do its job of cleaning. Triclosan is an antibacterial agents more used and its use is becoming worrisome. In addition to being incorporated in antibacterial soaps, products for acne, this component can be found in other less obvious products, such as toothpaste, detergent for dishes, sportswear, labial balsamos and even in pencil, referred to the New Next.

A new study published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology indicates that "in wastewater treatment plants, the antibacterials can sabotage the work of aerobic bacteria and promote resistance to other microbes". The solid waste resulting from the process of filtering and treatment often end up as fertilizer, and are scattered in fields and cultures, infiltrating into the soil and killing microbial life essential to the functioning of ecosystems in the subsoil.

However, the problem has a simple solution: end the use of triclosan. Several studies that investigated the use of this component and the effectiveness in reducing disease concluded that the antibacterial soaps are not more effective than the traditional soaps.

Photo: ASCOM-municipality of Votuporanga/Creative Commons

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