Triclosan is banned in the United States for use in consumer hand soaps and body washes, but it is not banned everywhere or in everything. The FDA issued a final rule in September 2016, effective September 2017, declaring triclosan “not generally recognized as safe and effective” for use in over-the-counter antiseptic wash products. That ruling removed it from liquid hand soaps, body washes, and similar products sold to everyday consumers. However, triclosan can still legally appear in toothpaste, cosmetics, and certain industrial applications, making the picture more complicated than a simple yes or no.
What the FDA Rule Actually Covers
The 2016 FDA rule targeted a specific category: consumer antiseptic washes, meaning products you lather on and rinse off with water. Triclosan was one of 19 active ingredients that lost their approved status in that ruling. Manufacturers had one year to either reformulate their products or pull them from shelves.
The rule did not cover hand sanitizers (leave-on products), toothpaste, or antiseptics used in healthcare settings. Those categories fell under separate regulatory reviews. In 2019, the FDA extended its reach by finalizing a similar rule for healthcare antiseptics, determining that triclosan and 23 other active ingredients lacked sufficient safety and effectiveness data for use in hospital-grade hand washes and surgical scrubs. Most manufacturers of healthcare antiseptics had already moved to other ingredients by that point.
Where Triclosan Still Shows Up
Toothpaste is the most notable product where triclosan has persisted. Colgate Total was the only major brand with specific FDA approval for triclosan as an anti-gingivitis ingredient. The Environmental Working Group’s database lists multiple Colgate Total formulations containing triclosan, though Colgate has been reformulating many of its products to replace triclosan with stannous fluoride. If you want to avoid it, check the active ingredients list on your tube.
The EPA separately regulates triclosan when it is used as a material preservative, a category that includes mattresses, plastics, textiles like shoes and clothing, toys, and adhesives. In these products, triclosan prevents bacterial growth in the material itself rather than on your skin. The EPA is currently reevaluating triclosan through its registration review process but has not pulled it from these uses.
In cosmetics like deodorants, face powders, and skin creams, triclosan may still appear at low concentrations. The European Union caps triclosan in cosmetics at 0.3%, a limit that has been in place since 1986 under EU cosmetic regulations.
International Restrictions
The European Union took a parallel path. In 2016, the European Commission decided that triclosan would no longer be approved for use in human hygiene biocidal products (the EU equivalent of antibacterial soaps). That ban took effect in February 2017, closely mirroring the FDA’s timeline. Like the US, the EU still permits triclosan in cosmetics at concentrations up to 0.3%.
Minnesota became the first US state to pass its own triclosan law in 2014, prohibiting the retail sale of any cleaning product containing triclosan that consumers use for sanitizing or hand and body cleansing. The state law includes an exception for products that have received specific FDA approval for consumer use, which at the time meant Colgate Total toothpaste.
Why Triclosan Was Restricted
The FDA’s decision rested on two pillars: manufacturers could not prove triclosan-containing soaps worked better than plain soap and water, and growing evidence raised safety concerns that outweighed any unproven benefit.
The most studied concern involves thyroid hormones. Triclosan can interfere with the thyroid hormone system through several pathways, including blocking iodide uptake (which your thyroid needs to produce hormones), disrupting the proteins that carry thyroid hormones through your blood, and interfering with enzymes that activate or deactivate those hormones. A systematic review in Frontiers in Endocrinology documented these mechanisms, though the degree of disruption from typical consumer exposure remains an active area of study.
Antibiotic resistance is the other major concern. Triclosan works by targeting a specific enzyme that bacteria need to build their cell walls. When bacteria are exposed to triclosan repeatedly, they can develop resistance through two main routes: mutations in the target enzyme, and ramping up efflux pumps that physically eject the chemical from the bacterial cell. Research on E. coli found that susceptible bacteria developed triclosan resistance after just 12 days of exposure in laboratory conditions. More troubling, the resistant bacteria also showed resistance to multiple other antimicrobial drugs, a phenomenon called cross-resistance. The bacteria essentially become harder to kill with a range of treatments, not just triclosan.
How Widespread Exposure Has Been
Before the bans took effect, triclosan was remarkably pervasive. National health surveys found detectable levels of triclosan in about 75% to 80% of urine samples from the US population. Data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey showed the detection rate climbing over time: 73% in 2003-2004, rising to 80% by 2005-2006. This widespread exposure occurred despite no proven benefit over regular soap for the vast majority of consumer uses.
Exposure levels have likely declined since the consumer soap ban took effect in 2017, but triclosan persists in the environment. Its presence in wastewater and surface water remains a concern for aquatic ecosystems. The EPA has required registrants to monitor effluent discharge at textile manufacturing sites where triclosan is incorporated into fabrics, acknowledging uncertainty about how much reaches waterways from industrial sources.
The Bottom Line on Its Legal Status
Triclosan is banned from consumer antiseptic soaps and washes in the US and EU, and from healthcare antiseptics in the US. It is not banned from toothpaste with specific FDA approval, cosmetics at low concentrations, or industrial applications like treated textiles and plastics. If you are trying to avoid triclosan entirely, the ingredient will be listed on product labels. For hand washing, plain soap and water is just as effective at removing bacteria as triclosan-containing products ever were.