You'll think twice before you put this dangerous chemical back in your mouth!

A top-selling toothpaste uses the chemical triclosan which has been linked to cancer-cell growth and disrupted development in animals, and regulators are still reviewing whether or not it's safe to pt in soap, cutting boars and toys, while many consumer companies are phasing it out.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - That toothpase? Colgate's Total. However, Colgate steadfastly claims that Total is safe, citing a rigorous Food and Drug Administration process that led to the toothpaste's approval in 1997 as an over-the-counter drug. Still, some of the scientific findings Colgate claimed to establish triclosan's safety were not clear, and weren't available to the public until this year.

You can bring a light into the darkness with "prayer and action."

The Total application had a 35 page summery of toxicology studies done on the chemical, which the FDA withheld from public view, and did not release the application until a lawsuit was filed via the Freedom of Information Act.

The released pages show that even the FDA, on of the U.S.'s most stringent regulatory processes, still relies primarily on company-backed science to show how safe or effective a product is.

The study did show a link between the chemical and fetal bone malformations in mice and rats, but Colgate regarded the link as not relevant. Scientists who reviewed the study ay that it appears as if the malformations may have been caused by a disruption of the endocrine system due to triclosan.

It may be impossible to predict what effects triclosan may have on people because humans are exposed to dozens of chemicals that may interact in the body, said Thomas Zoeller, a biology professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherts who specializes in how chemicals affect the endocrine system.

"We have created a system where we are testing these chemicals out on the human population. I love the idea that they are all safe," he said. "But when we have studies on animals that suggest otherwise, I think we're taking a huge risk."

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