Pelicans are pretty cool birds. They are very awkward on the ground because of their huge beaks, but very graceful in flight. During the summer and early fall, one flock of pelicans can be seen soaring above the south end of the Golden Gate Bridge and another in the Strawberry side of Richardson Bay.
Anyway, this story reminded me of how, about 30 years ago, brown pelicans almost went extinct. The reason was a pesticide called DDT. DDT was intended to kill insects that fed on food crops. DDT did its job very well, but it had unintended side effects. One of the most devastating effects was to cause bird eggshells to be very thin. The shells would crack way before they were supposed to, causing the bird embryos inside them to die. The two species of birds most deeply affected were brown pelicans and peregrine falcons.
Both species have since recovered, but what happened to them is another example of how mankind, in its efforts to make life easier for itself, does things that have unintended and potentially disasterous consequences.
The first time I became aware of the "law of unintended consequences" was in the early 1960's. Back then, a drug called thalidomide was being given to pregnant women in order to help them sleep and reduce the effects of morning sickness. Unfortunately, thalidomide was not tested very carefully before it was given to these women.
The results were horrifying. The babies born to these women were severly malformed with extra long bones, flipper like feet, extra fingers and toes and sometimes, whole extra limbs or no limbs at all. In Europe and Africa, approximately 10,000 thalidomide babies were born.
Thankfully, only 17 thalidomide babies were born in the United States. That's because a doctor named Frances Oldham Kelsey, who worked for the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), refused to allow thalidomide to be sold in the US.
After the thalidomide incident, drug testing became much more rigorous worldwide. Nonetheless, even drugs that have been thoroughly tested before approval have unexpected side effects.
One of the most prominent examples of this is Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). MRSA is an antibiotic resistant form of a very common household bacteria commonly known as staph. If you've ever had a infected cut, the infection was probably caused by staph.
Now, most common staph infections can be handled by your body's immune system and most infections can be avoided entirely if you thoroughly clean and treat bleeding wounds quickly.
MRSA first appeared in hospitals, which are full of people with weakened immune systems. Because of their weakened states, hospital patients need help to fight off infection. This help usually takes the form of drugs called antibiotics.
Now, no drug is 100% effective, so some staph would survive the antibiotic treatments. The surviving staph would reproduce and, in reproducing, pass along the characteristics that allowed them to survive the antibiotic treatments.
The result is MRSA, which is basically a super staph. People infected by this form of staph take a long time to heal. Some people never do. MRSA used to be found only in hospitals, but it is now showing up more and more often in public places such as locker rooms and pools. The lesson: if you get a wound that bleeds, wash it thoroughly with soap and water as quickly as possible. This will go a long way towards preventing infection.
Man made chemical related unintended consequences are not limited to medicine. Here are two involving household products:
1. Sunscreen
Anyone who spends a lot of time in the sun should put sunscreen on their skin. Unfortunately, some sunscreens are known to kill coral reefs, which are very fragile and a very important part of the oceans' ecosystems. The following sunscreens are both effective and don't kill coral reefs:
Avalon Baby's sunscreen SPF 18; Badger's SPF 30 sunscreen; California Baby's SPF 30; Juice Beauty's Green Apple SPF 15 moisturizer; and Kabana's Green Screen SPF 15.
2. Triclosan
This is an antibacterial chemical which kills bacteria by disabling their ability to reproduce. It can be found in many household products, including liquid hand soap, dishwashing liquid, toothpaste and some clothing. It is very effective at killing bacteria and does so in such a way that bacteria haven't found a defense for it.
Problem: triclosan doesn't break down in water. Water treatment plants don't filter it out of the water. This means that it is accumulating in our rivers, lakes and oceans. Triclosan has been shown to kill beneficial bacteria, algae and some young fish. Worse, once triclosan does break down it is believed to turn into dioxin, which is an extremely toxic chemical.
Triclosan has been in use for more than 30 years. At first it was used only in hospitals, but, as seen in the list below, can now be found in many household products. Even as its use is expanding, triclosan's effect on the environment are only recently being studied. A study of its usefulness to the average person concluded that most people don't get any real benefit from it....
Household products containing triclosan:
SOAP: Dial® Liquid Soap; Softsoap® Antibacterial
Liquid Hand Soap; Tea Tree Therapy™ Liquid Soap;
Provon® Soap; Clearasil® Daily Face Wash; Dermatologica
® Skin Purifying Wipes; Clean & Clear Oil Free
Foaming Facial Cleanser; DermaKleen™ Antibacterial
Lotion Soap; Naturade Aloe Vera 80® Antibacterial Soap;
CVS Antibacterial Soap, pHisoderm Antibacterial Skin
Cleanser, Dawn® Complete Antibacterial Dish Liquid,
Ajax® Antibacterial Dish Liquid.
DENTAL CARE: Colgate Total®; Breeze™ Triclosan
Mouthwash; Reach® Antibacterial Toothbrush; Janina
Diamond Whitening Toothpaste
COSMETICS: Supre® Café Bronzer™; TotalSkinCare
Makeup Kit; Garden Botanika® Powder Foundation;
Mavala Lip Base; Jason Natural Cosmetics; Blemish Cover
Stick; Movate® Skin Litening Cream HQ; Paul Mitchell
Detangler Comb, Revlon ColorStay LipSHINE Lipcolor
Plus Gloss, Dazzle
DEODORANT: Old Spice High Endurance Stick Deodorant,
Right Guard Sport Deodorant
Queen Helene® Tea Trea Oil Deodorant and Aloe Deodorant;
Nature De France Le Stick Natural Stick Deodorant;
DeCleor Deodorant Stick; Epoch® Deodorant with
Citrisomes; X Air Maximum Strength Deodorant
OTHER PERSONAL CARE PRODUCTS: Gillette®
Complete Skin Care MultiGel Aerosol Shave Gel; Murad
Acne Complex® Kit, ®; Diabet-x™ Cream; T.Taio™
sponges and wipes, Aveeno Therapeutic Shave Gel.
FIRST AID: SyDERMA® Skin Protectant plus First
Aid Antiseptic; Solarcaine® First Aid Medicated Spray;
Nexcare™ First Aid, Skin Crack Care; First Aid/Burn
Cream; HealWell® Night Splint; 11-1X1: Universal Cervical
Collar with Microban
KITCHENWARE: Farberware® Microban Steakknife Set
and Cu�� ing Boards; Franklin Machine Products FMP Ice
Cream Scoop SZ 20 Microban; Hobart Semi-Automatic
Slicer; Chix® Food Service Wipes with Microban; Compact
Web Foot® Wet Mop Heads
COMPUTER EQUIPMENT: Fellowes Cordless Microban
Keyboard and Microban Mouse Pad
CLOTHES: Teva® Sandals; Merrell Shoes; Sabatier Chef’s
Apron; Dickies Socks; Biofresh® socks
CHILDRENS TOYS: Playskool®: Stack ‘n Scoop Whale,
Rockin’ Radio, Hourglass, Sounds Around Driver, Roll ‘n
Ra�� le Ball, Animal Sounds Phone, Busy Beads Pal, Pop
‘n Spin Top, Lights ‘n Surprise Laptop
OTHER: Bionare® Cool Mist Humidifi er; Microban®
All Weather Reinforced Hose; Thomasville® Furniture;
Deciguard AB Ear Plugs; Bauer® 5000 Helmet; Aquatic
Whirlpools; Miller Paint Interior Paint; QVC® Collapsible
40-Can Cooler; Holmes Foot Buddy™ Foot Warmer, Blue
Mountain Wall Coverings, California Paints®, EHC AMRail
Escalator Handrails, Dupont™ Air Filters, Durelle™
Carpet Cushions, Advanta One Laminate Floors, San Luis
Blankets, J Cloth® towels, JERMEX mops
List of Products Containing Triclosan
Pesticides and
Unintended consequences are all around us and most don't have anything to do with drugs or medicine. Can you think of any?
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